The hymns of Prudentius

A

A

0
0
0

1 I

1 i
8 m

\fi ..t/i^i'

ifornia
onal

ii

THE LIBRARY
OF

THE UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES

Hifll:

THE

TEMPLE

CLASSICS

THE

HYMNS OF PRUDENTIUS

TRANSLATED BY

R. MARTIN POPE

AND

R. F. DAVIS

HYMNS S^
PRUDENTIUS
TRANSIATED

MARTIN
RF. DAVIS

A\DCCCCV • PUBLl^HSD,- BY^I-MDeNT
A MP CO.- ALDJTSe House LOM DON WC

PA

6G4g
CATHEMERINON LIBER

OF

PRUDENTIUSc3^^|^ - V/o

HYMNS FOR THE CHRISTIAN'S DAY

NEWLY TRANSLATED INTO

ENGLISH VERSE

•Vt

tl>^

"T ii

'*'«-/■"' /«-3"« U^

2029138

PRAEFATIO

Per quinquennia iam decern,
ni fallor, fuimus : Septimus insupcr
annum cardo rotat, dum fruimur sole volubili.

Instat terminus et diem
vicinum senio iam Deus adplicat. 5

Quid nos utile tanti spatio temporis egimus ?

Aetas prima crepantibus
flevit sub ferulis : mox docuit toga
infectum vitiis falsa loqui, non sine crimine.

Turn lasciva protervitas, 10

et luxus petulans (heu pudet ac piget)
foedavit iuvenem nequitiae sordibus ac luto.

Exin iurgia turbidos
armarunt animos et male pertinax
vincendi studium subiacuit casibus asperis. i 5

Bis legum moderamine
frenos nobilium reximus urbium,
ius civile bonis reddidimus, terruimus reos.

Tandem militiae gradu
evectum pietas principis extulit 20

adsumptum propius stare iubens ordinc prox-
imo.

Haec dum vita volans agit,
inrepsit subito canities seni
oblitum veteris me Saliae consulis arguens :

ex quo prima dies mihi 25

quam multas hiemes volvcrit et rosas
pratis post glaciem reddiderit, nix capitis
probat.

PREFACE

Full fifty years my span of life hath run,
Unless I err, and seven revolving years
Have further sped while I the sun enjoy.
Yet now the end draws nigh, and by God's will
Old age's bound is reached: how have I spent
And with what fruit so wide a tract of days ?
I wept in boyhood 'neath the sounding rod :
Youth's toga donned, the rhetorician's arts
I plied and with deceitful pleadings sinned :
Anon a wanton life and dalliance gross
(Alas ! the recollection stings to shame!)
Fouled and polluted manhood'sopening bloom :
And then the forum's strife my restless wits
Enthralled, and the keen lust of victory
Drove me to many a bitterness and fall.
Twice held I in fair cities of renown
The reins of office, and administered
To good men justice and to guilty doom.
At length the Emperor's will beneficent
Exalted me to military power
And to the rank that borders on the throne.
The years are speeding onward, and gray

hairs
Of eld have mantled o'er my brows
And Salia's consulship from memory dies.
What frost-bound winters since that natal

year
Have fled, what vernal suns reclothed
The meads with roses, — this white crown

declares.

3

4 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Numquid talia proderunt
carnis post obitum vel bona vel mala,
cum iam, quidquid id est, quod fueram, mors
aboleverit ? 30

Dicendum mihi ; Quisquis es,
mundum, quern coluit, mens tua perdidit :
non sunt ilia Dei, quae studuit, cuius habebcris.

Atqui ilne sub ultimo
peccatrix aninia stultitiam exuat : 35

saltern voce Deum concelebret, si meritis
nequit :

hymnis continuet dies,
nee nox uUa vacet, quin Dominum canat :
pugnet contra hereses, catholicam discutiat
fidem,

conculcet sacra gentium, 40

labem, Roma, tuis inferat idolis,
carmen martyribus devoveat, laudet apostolos.

Haec dum scribo vel eloquor,
vinclis o utinam corporis emicem
liber, quo tulerit lingua sono mobilis ultimo. 45

PRAEFATIO 5

Yet what avail the prizes or the blows
Of fortune, when the body's spark is quenched
And death annuls whatever state I held ?
This sentence I must hear : " Whate'er thou

art,
Thy mind hath lost the world it loved : not

God's
The things thou soughtest, Whose thou now

shalt be."
Yet now, ere hence I pass, my sinning soul
Shall doff its folly and shall praise my Lord
If not by deeds, at least with humble lips.
J Let each day link itself with grateful hymns
' And every night re-echo songs of God :
Yea, be it mine to fight all heresies,
Unfold the meanings of the Catholic faith,
j Trample on Gentile rites, thy gods, O Rome,
• Dethrone, the Martyrs laud, th' Apostles sing.
O while such themes my pen and tongue

employ,
May death strike off these fetters of the Hesh
And bear me whither my last breath shall rise !

I. HYMNUS AD GALLI CANTUM

Ales diei nuntii^
lucem propinquam praecinit ;
nos excitator mentium
iam Christus ad vitam vocat.

Auferte, clamat, lectulos 5

aegros, soporos, desides:
castique recti ac sobrii
vigilate, iam sum proximus.

Post solis ortum fulgidi
serum est cubile spernere, 10

ni parte noctis addita
tempus labori adieceris.

Vox ista, qua strepunt aves
stantes sub ipso culmine
paulo ante quamj^ux emicett i 5

nostri ligura est ludicis.

Tectos tenebris horridis
stratisque opertos segnibus
suadet quietem linquere
iam iamque venturo die. 20

Ut, cum coruscis flatibus
aurora caelum sparserit,
omnes labore exercitos
confirmet ad spem luminis.
6

I. HYMN AT COCK-CROW

Awake ! the shining day is born !
The herald cock proclaims the morn :
And Christ, the soul's Awakener, cries,
Bidding us back to life arise.

Away the sluggard's bed ! away
The slumber of the soul's decay !
Ye chaste and just and temperate,
Watch ! I am standing at the gate.

After the sun hath risen red
'Tis late for men to scorn their bed,
Unless a portion of the night
They seize for labours of the light.

Mark ye, what time the dawn draws nigh.
How 'neath the eaves the swallows cry ?
Know that by true similitude
Their notes our Judge's voice prelude.

When hid by shades of dark malign
On beds of softness we recline,
They call us forth with music clear
Warning us that the day is near.

When breezes bright of orient morn
With rosy hues the heavens adorn,
They cheer with hope of gladdening light
The hearts that spend in toil their might.

7

AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Hie somnus ad tempus datus 25

est forma mortis perpetis,
peccata ceu nox horrida
cogunt iacere ac stertere.

Sed vox ab alto culmine
Chiristi doccntis praemonet, 30

a^esse iam lucem prope,
ne mens sopori serviat :

Ne somnus usque ad terminos
vitae socordis opprimat
pectus sepultum crimine 35

et lucis oblitum suae.

Ferunt vagantes daemonas
laetos tenebris noctium,
gaJiocanente exterritos
sparsim timere et cedere. 40

Invisa nam vicinitas
lucis, salutis, numinis
rupto tenebrarum situ
noctis fugat satellites.

Hoc esse signum praescii 45

norunt repromissae spei,
qua nos sopons liberi "
speramus adventum Dei.

Quae vis sit huius alitis,
salvator ostendit Petro, 50

ter antequam gallus canat
sese negandum praedicans.

CATHEMERINON I. t

Though sleep be but a passing guest
' ris type of death's perpetual rest :
Our sins are as a ghastly night,
And seal with slumbers deep our sight.

But from the wide roof of the sky
Christ's voice peals forth with urgent cry,
Calling our sleep-bound hearts to rise
And greet the dawn with wakeful eyes.

He bids us fear lest sensual ease
Unto life's end the spirit seize
And in the tomb of shame us bind,
Till we are to the true light blind.

'Tis said that baleful spirits roam
Abroad beneath the dark's vast dome ;
But, when the cock crows, take their flight
Sudden dispersed in sore affright.

For the foul votaries of the night
Abhor the coming of the light.
And shamed before salvation's grace
The hosts of darkness hide their face.

They know the cock doth prophesy
Of Hope's long-promised morning sky.
When comes the Majesty Divine
Upon awakened worlds to shine.

The Lord to Peter once foretold
What meaning that shrill strain should hold.
How he l>efore cock-crow would lie
And thrice his Master dear deny.

lo AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Fit namque peccatum prius,
quam praeco lucis proximae
inlustret humanum genus 55

finemque peccandi terat.

Flevit negator denique
ex ore prolapsum nefas,
cum mens maneret innocens,
animusque servaret fidem. 60

Nee tale quidquam postea
linguae locutus lubrico est,
[ cantuque galli cognito
peccare iustus destitit.

Inde est quod omnes credimus, 65
illo quietis tempore
]uo galius exsultans capit
^ CKfistunrreHIsse ex inferis.

Tunc mortis oppressus vigor,
tunc lex subacta est tartari, 70

tunc vis diei fortior
noctem coegit cedere,

lam iani quiescant inproba,
iam culpa furva obdormiat,
iam noxa letalis suum 75

perpessa somnum marceat.

Vigil vicissim spiritus
quodcunique restat temporis,
dum meta noctis clauditur,
stans ac laborans excubet. Bo

CATHEMERINON 1. ii

For 'tis a law that sin is done
Before the herald of the sun
To humankind the dawn proclaims
And with his cry the sinner shames.

Then wept he bitter tears aghast
That from his lips the words had passed,
Though guileless he his soul possessed
And faith still reigned within his breast.

Nor ever reckless word he said
Thereafter, by his tongue betrayed,
But at the cock's familiar cry
Humbled he turned from vanity.

Therefore it is we hold to-day
That, as the world in stillness lay.
What hour the cock doth greet the skies,
Christ from deep Hades did arise.

Lo ! then the bands of death were burst,
Shattered the sway of hell accurst :
Then did the Day's superior might
Swiftly dispel the hosts of Night.

Now let base deeds to silence fall,
Black thoughts be stilled beyond recall :
Now let sin's opiate spell retire
To that deep sleep it doth inspire.

For all the hours that still remain
Until the dark his goal attain,
Alert for duty's stern command
Let every soul a sentry stand.

12 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

iesum ciamus vocibus
flentes, precantes, sobrii :
intenta supplicatio
dormire cor mundum vetat.

Sat convolutis artubus 85

sensum profunda oblivio
pressit, gravavit, obruit
vanis vagantem somniis.

Sunt nempe falsa et frivola,
quae mundiali gloria 90

ceu dormientes egimus :
vigilemus, hie est Veritas.

Aurum, voluptas, gaudium,
opes, honores, prospera,
quaecumque nos inflant mala, 95

fit mane, nil sunt omnia.

Tu, Christe, somnum dissice,
tu rumpe noctis vincula,
tu solve peccatum vctus
novumque lumen ingere. 100

CATHEMERINON I. 13

With sober prayer on Jesus call ;
Let tears with our strong crying fall;
Sleep cannot on the pure soul steal
That supplicates with fervent zeal.

Too long did dull oblivion cloud
Our motions and our senses shroud :
I>ulled by her numbing touch, we stray
In dreamland's ineffectual way.

Bound by the dazzling world's soft chain
'Tis false and fleeting gauds we gain,
Like those who in deep slumbers lie : —
Let us awake ! the truth is nigh.

Gold, honours, pleasure, wealth and ease,
And all the joys that mortals please,
Joys with a fatal glamour fraught —
When morning comes, lo ! all are nought.

But thou, O Christ, put sleep to flight
And break the iron bands of night.
Free us from burden of past sin
And shed Thy morning rays within.

II. HYMNUS MATUTINUS

Nox et tenebrae et nubila,
confusa niundi et turbida,
lux intrat, albescit polus.
Christus venit, discedite,

Caligo terrae scinditur 5

percussa solis spicule,
lebusque iam color redit
vultu nitentis sideris.

Sic nostra mox obscuritas
fraudisque pectus conscium 10

ruptis retectum nubibus
regnante pallescit Deo.

Tunc non licebit claudere
quod quisque fuscum cogitat,
sed mane clarescent novo 15

secreta mentis prodita.

Fur ante lucem squalido
inpune peccat tempore,
sed lux dolis contraria
latere furtum non sinit. 20

Versuta fraus et callida
amat tenebris obtegi,
aptamque noctem turpibus
adulter occultus fovet.

Sol ecce surgit igneus, 25

piget, pudescit, paenitet,
nee teste quisquam lumine
peccare constanter potest.
14

II. MORNING HYMN

Ye clouds and darkness, hosts of night
That breed confusion and affright,
Begone ! o'erhead the dawn shines clear,
The light breaks in and Christ is here.

Earth's gloom flees broken and dispersed.
By the sun's piercing shafts coerced :
The daystar's eyes rain influence bright
And colours glimmer back to sight.

So shall our guilty midnight fade,
The sin-stained heart's gross dusky shade
So shall the King's All-radiant Face
Sudden unveil our deep disgrace.

No longer then may we disguise
Our dark intents from those clear eyes :
Yea, at the dayspring's advent blest
Our inmost thoughts will stand confest.

The thief his hidden traffic plies
Unmarked before the dawn doth rise :
But light, the foe of guile concealed,
Lets no ill craft lie unrevealed.

Fraud and Deceit love only night,
Their wiles they practise out of sight ;
Curtained by dark. Adultery too
Doth his foul treachery pursue.

But slinks abashed and shamed away
Soon as the sun rekindles day,
For none can damning light resist
And 'neatb its rays in sin persist.
15

i6 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

9uis mane sumptis neguiter
non erubescit poculis. 30

cum fit libido teniperans
castumque nugator sapit?_

Nunc, nunc severum vivitur,
nunc nemo tentat ludicrum,
inepta nunc omnes sua 35

vultu colorant serio.

Haec hora cunctis utilis,
qua quisque, quod studet, gerat,
miles, togatus, navita,
opifex, arator, institor. 40

Ilium foiensis gloria,
hunc triste raptat classicum,
mercator hinc ac rusticus
avara suspirant lucra.

At nos lucelli ac faenoris 45

fandique prorsus nescii,
nee arte fortes bellica,
te, Christe, solum novimus.

Te mente pura et simplici,
te voce, te cantu pio 50

rogare curvato genu
flendo et canendo discimus.

His nos lucramur quaestibus,
hac arte tantum vivimus,
haec inchoamus munera, 55

cum sol resurgens emicat.

CATHEMERINON II 17

Who doth not blush o'ertook by morn
And his long night's carousal scorn ?
For day subdues the lustful soul,
And doth all foul desires control.

Now each to earnest life awakes,
Now each his wanton sport forsakes ;
Now foolish things are put away
And gravity resumes her sway.

It is the hour for duty's deeds,

The path to which our labour leads,

Be it the forum, army, sea,

The mart or field or factory. ^ V

One seeks the plaudits of the bar.
One the stern trumpet calls to war :
Those bent on trade and husbandry
At greed's behest for lucre sigh.

Mine is no rhetorician's fame,
No petty usury I claim ;
Nor am I skilled to face the foe :
'Tis Thou, O Christ, alone I know.

Yea, I have learnt to wait on Thee
With heart and lips of purity,
Humbly my knees in prayer to bend.
And tears with songs of praise to blend.

These are the gains I hold in view
And these the arts that I pursue :
These are the offices I ply
When the bright sun mounts up the sky.

i8 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Intendc nostris sensibus,
vitamque totam dispice,
sunt multa fucis inlita,
quae luce purgentur tua. 60

Durare nos tales iube,
quales, remotis sordibus
nitere pridem iussei;is,
lordane tinctos flumine.

Quodcumque nox mundi dehinc 65
infecit atris nubibus,
tu, rex Eoi sideris,
vultu sereno inlumina.

Tu sancte, qui taetram picem
candore tingis lacteo 7°

cbenoque crystal lum facis,
delicta terge livida.

Sub nocte lacob caerula
luctator audax angeli,
eo usque dum lux surgeret, 75

sudavit inpar praelium.

Sed cum iubar claresceret,
lapsante claudus poplite
femurque victus debile
culpae vigorem perdidit. 80

Nutabat inguen saucium,
>» quae corporis pars vilior
/ longeque sub cordis loco
\ diram fovet libidineni.

CATHEMERINON II. 19

Prove Thou my heart, my every thought,
Search into all that I have wrought :
Though I be stained with blots within,
Thy quickening rays shall purge my sin.

O may I ever spotless be
As when my stains were cleansed by Thee,
Who bad'st me 'neath the Jordan's wave
Of yore my soiled spirit lave.

If e'er since then the world's gross night
Hath cast its curtain o'er my sight,
Dispel the cloud, O King of grace,
Star of the East ! with thy pure face.

Since Thou canst change, O holy Light,
The blackest hue to milky white,
Ebon to clearness crystalline.
Wash my foul stains and make me clean.

'Twas 'neath the lonely star-blue night
That Jacob waged the unequal fight,
Stoutly he wrestled with the Man
In darkness, till the day began.

And when the sun rose in the sky
He halted on his shrivelled thigh :
His natural might had ebbed away.
Vanquished in that tremendous fray.

Not wounded he in nobler part
Nor smitten in life's fount, the heart :
But lust was shaken from his throne
And his foul empire overthrown.

20 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Hae nos decent imagines, 85

hominem tenebris obsitum,
si forte non cedat Deo,
vires rebellis perdere.

Erit tamen beatior,
intemperans membrum cui 90

luctando claudum et tabidum
dies oborta invenerit.

Tandem facessat caecitas,
quae nosmet in praeceps diu
lapses sinistris gressibus 95

errore traxit devio.

Haec lux serenum conferat
purosque nos praestet sibi :
nihil loquamur subdolum,
volvamus obscurum nihil. 100

Sic tota decurrat dies,
ne lingua mendax, ne manus,
oculive peccent lubrici,
ne noxa corpus inquinet.

Speculator adstat desuper, 105

qui nos diebus omnibus
actusque nostros prospicit
a luce prima in vesperum.

Hie testis, hie est arbiter,
hie intuetur quidquid est, I ro

humana quod mens concipit ;
hunc nemo fallit iudicem.

CATHEMERINON II. 21

Whereby we clearly learn aright
That man is whelmed by deadly night,
Unless he own God conqueror
And strive against His will no more.

Yet happier he whom rising morn
Shall find of nature's strength forlorn,
Whose warring flesh hath shrunk away,
Palsied by virtue's puissant sway.

And then at length let darkness flee,
Which all too long held us in fee,
'Mid wildering shadows made us stray
And led in devious tracks our way.

We pray Thee, Rising Light serene.
E'en as Thyself our hearts make clean :
Let no deceit our lips defile
Nor let our souls be vexed by guile.

O keep us, as the hours proceed,
From lying word and evil deed,
Our roving eyes from sin set free,
Our body from impurity.

For thou dost from above survey
The converse of each fleeting day :
Thou dost foresee from morning light
Our every deed, until the night.

Justice and judgment dwell with Thee,
Whatever is. Thine eye doth see :
Thou know'st what human hearts conceive
And none Thy wisdom may deceive.

Iir. HYMNUS ANTE CIBUM

O ciuciter bone, lucisator,
omniparens, pie, verbigena,
edite corpore virgineo,
sed prius in genitore potens,
astra, solum, mare quam Herent : 5

Hue nitido precor intuitu
flecte salutiferam faciem,
fronte serenus et inradia,
Dominis ut sub honore tui
has epulas liceat capere. 10

Te sine dulce nihil, Domine,
nee iuvat ore quid adpetere,
pocula ni prius atque eibos,
Christe, tuus favor inbuerit
omnia sanctificante fide. i 5

Fereula nostra Deum sapiant,
Christus et influat in pateras :
seria, ludiera, verba, iocos,
denique quod sumus aut agimus,
trina superne regat pietas. 20

Hie mihi nulla rosae spolia,
nullus aromate fragrat odor,
sed liquor influit ambrosius
nectareamque fidem redolet
fusus ab usque Patris gremio. 25

Sperne eamena leves hederas,
cingere tempora quis solita es,
22

III. HYMN BEFORE MEAT

Blest Cross-bearer, Source of good,
Light-creating, Word-begot,

Gracious child of maidenhood,
Bosomed in the Fatherhood,

When earth, sea and stars were not.

With Thy cloudless, healing gaze

Shine upon me from above :
Let Thine all-enlightening rays

Bless this meal and quicken praise.
Praise unto Thy name of Love.

Lord, without Thee nought is sweet,

Nought my life can satisfy,
If Thy favour make not meet

What I drink and what I eat ;
Let faith all things sanctify !

O'er this bread God's grace be poured,
Christ's sweet fragrance fill the bowl !

Rule my converse, Triune Lord,
Sober thought and sportive word.

All my acts and all my soul.

Spoils of rose-trees are not spent.
Nor rich unguents on my board :

But ambrosia! sweets are sent,
Of faith's nectar redolent.

From the bosom of my Lord.

Scorn, my Muse, light ivy-leaves

Wherewith custom wreathed thy brow
23

24 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

sertaque mystica dactylico
texere docta liga strophio,
laude Dei redimita comas. 30

Quod gencrosa potest aniina,
lucis et aetheris indigena,
solvere dignius obscquium,
quam data munera si recinat
artificem modulata suum ? 35

Ipse homini quia cuncta dedit,
quae capimus dominante manu,
quae polus aut humus aut pelagus
aere, gurgite, rure creant,
haec mihi subdidit et sibi me. 40

Callidus inlaqueat volucres
aut pedicis dolus aut maculis,
inlita glutine corticeo
vimina plumigeram seriem
inpediunt et abire vetant. 45

Ecce per aequora fluctivagos
texta greges sinuosa trahunt :
piscis item sequitur calamum
raptus acumine vulnifico
credula saucius ora cibo. 50

Fundit opes ager ingenuas
dives aristiferae segetis :
hie ubi vitea pampineo
brachia palmite luxuriant,
pacis alumna ubi baca viret. 5 5

Haec opulentia Christicolis
servit et omnia suppeditat :

CATHEMERINON III. 25

Love a mystic crown conceives

And a rhythmic garland weaves :
Bind on thee God's praises now.

What more worthy gift can I,
Child of light and aether, bring

Than for boons the Maker high
From His bounty doth supply

Lovingly my thanks to sing ?

He hath set 'neath our command

All that ever rose to be,
All that sky and sea and land

Breed in air, in glebe and sand,
Made my slaves. His own made me.

Fowler's craft with gin and net

Feathered tribes of heaven ensnares :

Osier twigs with lime o'erset
That their airy flight may let

His relentless guile prepares.

Lo ! with woven mesh the seine

Swimming shoals draws from the wave :

Nor do fish the bait disdain

Till they feel the barb's swift pain,

Captives of the food they crave.

Native wealth that knows no fail,

Golden wheat springs from the field :

Tendrils lush o'er vineyards trail.
Nursed of Peace the olives pale

Berries green unbidden yield.

Christ's grace fills His jjeople's need
With these mercies ever fresh :

26 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

absit enim procul ilia fames,

caedibus ut pecuduni libeat

sanguineas lacerare dapes. 60

Sint fera gentibus indomitib
prandia de nece quadruped um :
nos oleris coma, nos siliqua
feta legumine multimodo
paverit innocuis epulis. 65

Spumea mulctra gerunt niveos
ubere de gemino latices,
perque coagula densa liquor
in solidum colt et fragili
lac tenerum premitur calatho. 70

Mella recens mihi Cecropia
Hectare sudat olente favus :
haec opifex apis aerio
rore liquat tenuique thymo,
nexilis inscia connubii. 75

Hinc quoque pomiferi nemoris
munera mitia proveniunt,
arbor onus tremefacta suum
deciduo gravis imbre pluit
puniceosque iacit cumulos. 80

Quae veterum tuba, quaeve lyra
flatibus inclita vel fidibus
divitis omnipotentis opus,
quaeque fruenda patent homini
laudibus aequiparare queat ? 85

. CATHEMERINON III. 27

Far from us be that foul greed,

Gluttony that loves to feed
On slain oxen's bloodstained flesh.

Leave to the barbarian brood

Banquet of the slaughtered beast :

Ours the homely, garden food,
Greenstuff manifold and good

And the lentils' harmless feast.

Foaming milkpails bubble o'er
With the udders' snowy stream,

Which in thickening churns we pour
Or in wicker baskets store.

As the cheese is pressed from cream.

Honey's nectar for our use

From the new-made comb is shed :
Which the skilful bee imbues

With thyme's scent and airy dews.
Plying lonely toils unwed.

Orchard-groves now mellowed o'er
Bounteously their fruitage shed :

See ! like rain on forest floor
Shaken trees their riches pour.

High-heaped apples, ripe and red.

What great trumpet voice or lyre
Famed of yore could fitly praise

Gifts of the Almighty Sire,

Blessings that His own require,

Richly lavished through their days ?

28 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Te Pater optime mane novo,
solis et orbita cum media est,
te quoque luce sub occidua
sumere cum nionet hora cibum,
nostra Deus canet harmonia. 90

Quod calet halitus interior,
corde quod abdita vena tremit,
pulsat et incita quod resonam
lingua sub ore latens caveam,
laus superi Patris esto mihi. 95

Nos igitur tua sancte manus
caespite conposuit madido
effigiem meditata suam,
utque foret rata materies
flavit et indidit ore animam. 100

Tunc per amoena vireta iubet
frondicorais habitare locis,
ver ubi perpetuum redolet
prataque multicolora latex
quadrifluo celer amne rigat. 105

Haec tibi nunc famulentur, ait,
usibus omnia dedo tuis :
sed tamen aspera mortifero
stipite carpere poma veto,
qui medio viret in nemore. 110

Hie draco perfidus indocile
virginis inlicit ingenium, ■
ut socium maiesuada virum
mandere cogeret ex vetitis
ipsa pari peritura modo. 115

CATHEMERINON III. 29

When morn breaks upon our sight,
Hymns, O Lord, to Thee shall ring :

Thee, when streams the midday light,
Thee, when shadows of the night

Bid us sup, our voices sing.

For my body's vital heat.

For my heart-blood's pulsing vein,
For my tongue and speech complete

Unto Thee, Most High, 'tis meet
That I raise my grateful strain.

'Twas, O Holy One, Thy care
Wrought us from the plastic clay,

Made us Thine own image bear,
And for our perfection fair

Did Thy Breath to man convey.

On the twain Thou didst bestow
Leafy bowers in pleasaunce fair :

Where spring's scents for aye did blow,
And four stately streams did flow

O'er meads pied with blossoms rare.

" All this realm ye now shall sway : "
(SaidstThou) "use it at your will,

Yet 'tis death your hands to lay
On the Tree, whose verdant sway

Doth the midmost garden fill."

Then the Serpent's guileful hate

Would not innocency spare :
Bade the maiden urge her mate

With the fruit his lips to sate,
Nor 'scaped she the self-same snare.

30 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Corpora mutua — nosse nefas —
post epulas inoperta vident,
lubricus error et erubuit :
tegmina suta parant foliis,
dedecus ut pudor occuleret. 120

Conscia culpa Deum pavitans
sede pia procul exigitur.
innuba feniina quae fuerat,
coniugis excipit inperium,
foedera tristia iussa pati. 1 2 5

Auctor et ipse doli coluber
plectitur inprobus, ut mulier
colla trilinguia calce terat :
sic coluber muliebre solum
suspicit atque virum mulier. 1 30

His ducibus vitiosa dehinc
posteritas ruit in facinus,
dumque rudes imitatur avos,
fasque nefasque simul glomerans
inpia crimina morte luit. 1 3 5

Ecce venit nova progenies,
aethere proditus alter homo,
non luteus, velut ille prior :
sed Deus ipse gerens hominem,
corporeisque carens vitiis. 140

Fit caro vivida sermo Patris,
numine quam rutilante gravis
non thalamo, neque iure tori,
nee genialibus inlecebris
intemerata puella parit. 145

CATHEMERINON III. 31

Each their nakedness perceives

When the feast they once partook :

Smit with shame their conscience grieves :
Wove they coverings of leaves

Shielding from lascivious look.

Far they both in terror fled

Thrust from dwelling of the pure :

She who erst had dwelt unwed
Subject to her spouse was led,

Bidden Hymen's bonds endure.

On the Serpent, too, His seal

God hath set, Who guile abhorred.

Doomed in triple neck to feel
Impress of the woman's heel,

Fearing her, who feared her lord.

Thus sin in our parents sown
Brought forth ruin for the race :

Good and evil having grown
From that primal root alone,

Nought but death could guilt efface.

But the Second Man behold

Come to re-create our kin :
Not formed after common mould

But our God (O Love untold !)
Made in flesh that knows not sin.

Word of God incarnated.

By His awful power conceived,

Whom a maiden yet unwed,
Innocent of marriage-bed.

In her virgin womb received.

32 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Hoc odium vetus illud erat,
hoc erat aspidis atque hominis
digladiabile discidium,
quod modo cernua femineis
viper a proteritur pedibus. 1 50

Edere namque Deum nierita
omnia virgo venena domat :
tractibus anguis inexplicitis
virus inerme piger revomit,
gramine concolor in viridi. 155

Quae feritas raodo non trepidat,
territa de grege candidulo ?
inpavidas lupus inter oves
tristis obambulat et rabid um
sanguinis inmemor os cohibet. 160

Agnus enim vice mirifica
ecce leonibus inperitat :
exagitansqup truces aquilas
per vaga nubila, perque notos
sidere lapsa columba fugat. 165

Tu mihi Christe columba potens,
sanguine pasta cui cedit avis,
tu niveus per ovile tuum
agnus hiare lupum prohibes,
sub iuga tigridis ora prtmens. 170

Da locuples Deus hoc faniulis
rite precantibus, ut tenui
membra cibo recreata levent,
neu piger inmodicis dapibus
viscera tenta gravet stomachus. 175

CATHEMERINON III. 33

Now we see the Serpent lewd

'Neath the woman's heel downtrod :

Whence there sprang the deadly feud,
Strife for ages unsubdued,

'Twixt mankind and foe of God.

Yet God's mother, Maid adored,

Robbed sin's poison of its bane.
And the Snake, his green coils lowered^

Writhing on the sod, outpoured
Harmless now his venom's stain.

What fierce brute that doth not flee

Lambs of Christ, white-robed and clean ?

'Midst the flock from fear set free,
Slinks the drear wolf sullenly,

Checked his maw and tamed his mien.

Wondrous change ! restrained by love

Lions the mild lamb obey :
Eagles wild, before the dove

Fluttering from the stars above,
Speed o'er cloudy winds away.

Thou, O Christ, my Dove dost reign
Where the vulture gnaws no more :

Thou dost, snow-white Lamb, enchain
Tigers fierce, and wolves restrain

Gaping at the sheepfold's door.

God of Love, Thy servants we

Pray Thee now to grant our prayer

That our feast may frugal be.
Nor that we dishonour Thee

By coarse surfeit of rich fare.

c

34 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Haustus amarus abesto procul,
ne libeat tetigisse manu
exitiale quid aut vetitum :
gustus et ipse modum teneat,
sospitet ut iecur incolume. 180

Sit satis anguibus horrificis,
liba quod inpia corporibus
ah niiseram peperere necem,
sufficiat semel ob facinus
plasma Dei potuisse mori. 185

Oris opus, vigor igneolus
non moritur, quia flante Deo
conpositus superoque fluens
de solio Patris artificis
vim liquidae rationis habet. 190

Viscera mortua quin etiam
post obitum reparare datur,
eque suis iterum tumulis
prisca renascitur effigies
pulvereo coeunte situ. 195

Credo equidem, neque vana fides,
corpora vivere more animae :
nam modo corporeum memini
de Phlegethonte gradu facili
ad superos remeasse Deum. 200

Spes eadem mea membra manet,
quae redolentia funereo
iussa quicscere sarcophago
dux parili redivivus humo
ignea Christus ad astra vocat. 205

CATHEMERINON III. 35

May we taste no bitter gall

In our cup, nor handle we
Aught of death or harm at all,

Nor intemperately fall
Into gross debauchery.

Be the powers of Hell content
With their primal fraud, whereby

Death into this world was sent,
And that, for sin's chastisement,

God's own creatures once should die.

But in us God's Breath of fire ■

Cannot lose its vital force :
Never can its might expire,

Flowing from the Eternal Sire,
Who of Reason's strength is source.

Nay, from out death's chilling tomb

Mortal atoms shall arise :
Man from earth's vast, hidden womb

Other, yet the same, shall bloom,
Dust re-made in glorious guise.

'Tis my faith — and faith not vain —
Bodies live e'en as the soul :

Since I hold in memory plain
God as man uprose again,

Loosed from Hell, to His true goal.

Whence from Him the hope I reap
That these limbs the same shall rise.

Which enwrapped in balmy sleep
Christ the Risen safe shall keep

Till He call me to the skies.

IV. HYMNUS POST CIBUM

Pastis visceribus ciboque sumpto,
quem lex corporis inbecilla poscit,
laudem lingua Deo patri rependat ;

Patri, qui Cherubin sedile sacrum,
nee non et Seraphin suum supremo 5

subnixus solio tenet regitque.

Hie est, quem Sabaoth Deum vocamus,
expers principii carensque fine,
rerum conditor et repertor orbis :

fons vitae liquida fluens ab area, 10

infusor fidei, sator pudoris,
mortis perdomitor, salutis auctor.

Omnes quod sumus aut vigemus, inde est :
regnat Spiritus ille sempiternus
a Christo simul et Parente missus. 15

Intrat pectora candidus pudica,
quae templi vice consecrata rident,
postquam conbiberint Deum niedullis.

Sed si quid vitii dolive nasci
inter viscera iam dicata sensit, 20

ceu spurcum refugit celer sacellum.

Taetrum Hagrat enim vapore crasso
horror conscius aestuante culpa
ofFensumque bonum niger repellit.
36

IV. HYMN AFTER MEAT

Refreshed we rise, and for this bread that feeds,
By law of man's weak flesh, our daily needs,

Let every tongue the Father's praises sing ;
The Father Who on His exalted throne.
O'er Cherubim and Seraphim, alone

Reigns in His majesty. Eternal King.

God of Sabaoth is His name : 'tis He
Who ne'er began and ne'er shall cease to be,

Builder of worlds created at His word ;
Fountain of Life that flows from out the sky,
He breathes within us Faith and Purity,

Great Conqueror ofDeath, Salvation's Lord.

From Him each creature life and vigour gains,
And over all the Eternal Spirit reigns

Who Cometh from the Father and the Son :
When, dovelike, on pure hearts the heavenly

Guest
Descends, they are by God's own presence
blest.
As temples where His holy work is done.

But if the taint of vice or guile arise
Within the consecrated shrine. He flies

With speed from out the sin-defilM cell ;
For, driven forth by guilt's black, surging tide,
The offended Godhead may not there abide
Where conscious sin and noisome foulness
dwell.

37

38 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Nee solus pudor innocensve votum 25
templum constituunt peienne Christo
in cordis medii sinu ac recessu :

sed ne crapula ferveat cavendum est,
quae sedem fidei cibis refertam
usque ad congeiiem coartet intus. 30

Parcis victibus expedita corda
infusum melius Deum receptant.
Hie pastus animae est, saporque verus :

sed nos tu gemino fovens paratu
artus atque animas utroque pastu 35

confirmas Pater ae vigore conples.

Sie olim tua praeeluens potestas
inter raucisonos situm leones,
inlapsis dapibus virum refovit.

Ilium fusile numen execrantem 40
et curvare caput sub expolita
aeris materia nefas putantem

Plebs dirae Babylonis ac tyrannus
morti subdiderant, feris diearant
saevis protinus haustibus vorandum. 45

O semper pietas fidesque tuta!
lambunt indomiti virum leones
intactumque Dei tremunt alumnum.

Adstant cominus et iubas reponunt,
mansueseit rabies fameque blanda 50
praedam rictibus ambit incruentis.

CATHEMERINON IV. 39

Not chastity nor childlike faith alone
Build up for Christ an everlasting throne

Deep in the inmost heart, devoid of shame :
But watchful ever must His servants be,
Lest the dark power of sated gluttony

Should bind about the abode of faith its chain.

Yet simple saints, content with frugal fare,
More surely find the Spirit present there.

Who is our soul's true strength and
heavenly food :
Thy love for us a twofold feast supplies,
O Father, whence the soul may strengthened rise

And eke the body gain new hardihood.

Thus,fed and shelteredbyThy matchless might,
The lions' hideous roar could not affright

Thy loyal servant in the days of old :
He boldly cursed the molten deity
And stood with stubborn head uplifted high

That scorned to bow before a god of gold.

Then Babylon's vile mob with fury glows ;
Death ishisdoom; and straightthetyrantthrows

The youth to be his savage lions' prey :
But faith and piety Thou still dost save,
For lo ! the untamed brutes no longer rave,

But round God's unscathed child they
gently play.

Clofe by his side they stand with drooping mane,
The grisly, gaping jaws from blood refrain
And with rough tongues their whilom prey
caress :

40 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Sed cum tenderet ad superna palmas
expertumque sibi Dcuni rogaret,
clausus iugiter indigensque victu :

lussus nuntius advolare terris, 5 5

qui pastum famulo daret probato,
raptim desilit obsequente mundo.

Cernit forte procul dapes inemptas,
quas messoribus Abbacuc propheta
agresti bonus exhibebat arte. 60

Huius caesarie manu prehensa
plenis, sicut erat, gravem canistris
suspensum rapit et vehit per auras.

Turn raptus simul ipse prandiumque
sensim labitur in lacum leonum, 65

et, quas tunc epulas gerebat, offert :

Somas laetus, ait, libensque carpas,
quae summus Pater, angelusque Christi
mittunt liba tibi sub hoc periclo.

His sumptis Danielus excitavit 70
in caelum faciem ciboque fortis
Amen reddidit, Halleluia dixit.

Sic nos muneribus tuis refecti,
largitor Deus omnium bonorum,
grates reddimus et sacramus hymnos. 75

Tu nos tristifico velut tyranno
mundi scilicet inpotentis actu
conclusos regis et feram repellis,

CATHEMERINON IV. 41

But when in prayer he raised his hands to heaven
And called the God, from Whom such help
was given,
Close-prisoned, hungry, and in sore distress,

A winged messenger to earth He sends.
Who swiftly throughthepartingcloudsdescends

To feed His servant, proven by the test :
By chance he sees from far the unbought fare
Which the good seer Habakkuk's kindly care

With rustic art had for the reapers dressed :

Then,grasping in strong hand the prophet's hair,
He bears him gently through the rushing air,

Stil ! burdened with the platter's savoury load,
Till o'er the lions' den at last they stayed
And straightway to the starving youth displayed

The food thus brought, by God's good
grace bestowed.

" Take this with joy," he said, " and thankful

feed.
The bread that in thy hour of direst need,
By the great Father sent, Christ's angel
brings."
Then Daniel lifts his eyes to heaven above
And , strengthened by the wondrous gift of love,
•'Amen! " he cries, and Alleluia sings.

Thus, therefore, by Thy bounties now restored,
Giver of all things good, Almighty Lord,

We render thanks and sing glad hymns to
Thee :
Though prisoned in an evil world we dwell
Where sin's grim tyrant rules, Thou dost repel

With sovran power our mortal enemy.

42 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Quae circumfremit ac vorare temptat
insanos acuens furore denies, 80

cur te, sunime Deus, precemur unum.

Vexamur, premimur, malis rotamur ;
oderunt, lacerant, trahunt, lacessunt,
iuncta est suppliciis fides iniquis.

Nee defit tamen anxiis medela ; 85

nam languente trucis leonis ira
inlapsae superingeruntur escae.

Quas si quis sitienter hauriendo
non gustu tenui, sed ore pleno
internis velit inplicare venis, 90

Hie saneto satiatus ex propheta,
iustorum capiet cibos virorum,
qui fructum domino metunt perenni.

Nil est dulcius ac magis saporum,
nil quod plus hominem iuvare possit, 95

quara vatis pia praecinentis orsa.

His sumptis licet insolens potestas
pravum iudicet, inrogetque mortem,
inpasti licet inruant leones,

nos semper Dominum patrem fatentes 100
in te, Christe Deus, loquemur unum
constanterque tuam crucem feremus.

CATHEMERINON IV. 43

He roars around us, and would fain devour,
Grinding his angry teeth when 'gainst his power

In Thee alone, O God, we still confide :
By evil things we are beset and vexed,
Tormented, hated, harassed and perplexed,

Our faith by cruel suffering sorely tried,

Yet help ne'er fails us in our time of need,
For Thou canst quell the lions' rage, and feed

Our hungry spirits with celestial fare :
And if some soul no meagre taste would gain
Of that repast, but thirstily is fain

Fullmeasureoftheheavenlysweets to share.

He by the holy seers of old is fed,

And shall partake the loyal reapers' bread

Who labour in the eternal Master's field :
For nothing sweeter than the Word can be
That fell from righteous lips, once touched by
Thee,

And nought can richer grace to mortals yield.

With this sustained, though vaunting tyranny
By unjust judgment doom us straight to die,

And starved lions rush these limbs to tear ;
Confessing ever Thine Eternal Son,
With Thee, Almighty Father, ever one,

His cross with faith unshaken will we bear.

V. HYMNUS AD INCENSUM
LUCERNAE

Inventor rutili, dux bone, luminis,
qui certis vicibus tempora dividis,
merso sole chaos ingruit horridum, ^

lucem redde tuis Christe fidelibus. I

Quamvis innumero sldere regiam 5

lunarique polum lampade pinxeris,
incussu silicis luniina nos tamen
monstras saxigeno semine quaerere :

Ne nesciret homo spem sibi luminis
in Christi solido corpore conditam, 10

qui dici stabilem se voluit petram,
nostris igniculis unde genus venit.

Pinguis quos olei rore madentibus
lychnis aut facibus pascimus aridis :
quin et fila favis scirpea floreis 1 5

presso melle prius conlita fingimus.

Vivax flamma viget, seu cava testula
sucum linteolo suggerit ebrio,
seu pinus piceam fert alimoniam,
seu ceram teietem stuppa caleno bibit. 20
44

V. HYMN FOR THE LIGHTING
OF THE LAMPS

Blest Lord, Creator of the glowing light,
At Whose behest the hours successive move,
The sun has set: black darkness broods above:

Christ ! light Thy faithful through the coming
night.

Thy courts are lit with stars unnumbered.
And in the cloudless vault the pale moon rides;
Yet Thou dost bid us seek the fire that hides

Till swift we strike it from its flinty bed.

So man may learn that in Christ's body came
The hidden hope of light to mortals given :
He is the Rock — 'tis His own word —
that riven

Sends forth to all our race the eternal flame.

From lamps that brim with rich and fragrant oil,

Or torches dry this heaven-sent fire we feed ;

Or make us rushlights from the flowering

reed

And wax, whereon the bees have spent their

toil.

Bright glows the light, whether the resin thick
Of pine-brand flares, or waxen tapers burn
With melting radiance, or the hollow urn

Yields its stored sweetness to the thirsty wick.
45

46 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Nectar de liquido vertice fervidum
guttatim lacrimis stillat olentibus,
anibustum quoniam vis facit ignea
inibrem de madido flere cacumine.

Splendent ergo tuis muneribus, Pater, 25
flamniis mobilibus scilicet atria,
absentemque diem lux agit aemula,
quam nox cum lacero victa fugit peplo.

Sed quis non rapidi luminis arduam
manantemque Deo cernat originem ? 30
Moyses nempe Deum spinifera in rubo
vidit conspicuo lumine flammeum.

Felix, qui meruit sentibus in sacris
caelestis solii visere principem,
iussus nexa pedum vincula solvere, 35

ne sanctum involucris pollueret locum.

Hunc ignem populus sanguinis incliti
maiorum meritis tutus et inpotens,
suetus sub dominis vivere barbaris,
iam liber sequitur longa per avia : 40

qua gressum tulerant castraque caerulae
noctis per medium concita moverant,
plebem pervigilem fulgure praevio
ducebat radius sole micantior.

CATHEMERINON V. 47

Beneath the might of fire, in slow decay
The scented tears of glowing nectar fall ;
Lower and lower droops the candle tall

And ever dwindling weeps itself away.

So by Thy gifts, great Father, hearth and hall
Are all ablaze with points ot twinkling light
That vie with daylight spent ; and van-
quished Night

Rends, as she flies away, her sable pall.

Who knoweth not that from high Heaven
first came
Our light, from God Himself the rushing

fire?
For Moses erst, amid the prickly brier,
Saw God made manifest in lambent flame.

Ah, happy he ! deemed worthy face to face
To see heaven's Lord within that sacred

brake ;
Bidden the sandals from his feet to take,

Nor with his shoon defile that holy place.

The mighty children of the chosen name,
Saved by the merits of their sires, and free
After long years of savage tyranny.

Through the drear desert followed still that
flame.

Striking their camp beneath the silent night
Where'er they went, to lead their darkling

way.
The cloud of glory lent its guiding ray
And shone more splendid than the noonday
light.

48 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM

Sed rex Niliaci littoris invido 45

fervens felle iubet praevalidam manum
in bellum rapidis ire cohortibus
ferratasque acies clangere classicum.

Sumunt arma viri seque minacibus
accingunt gladiis, triste canit tuba : 50

hie fidit iacLilis, ille volantia
praefigit calamis spicula Gnosiis.

Densetur cuneis turba pedestribus,
currus pars et equos et volucres rotas
conscendunt celeres signaque bellica 55
praetendunt tumidis clara draconibus.

Hie iam servitii neseia pristini
gens Pelusiaeis usta vaporibus
tandem purpurei gurgitis hospita
rubris littoribus fessa resederat. 60

Hostis dirus adest eum duee perfido,
infert et validis praelia viribus :
Moyses porro suos in mare praeeipit
constans intrepidis tendere gressibus :

praebent rupta locum stagna viantibus 65
riparum in faeiem pervia, sistitur
circumstans vitreis unda liquoribus,
dum plebs sub bifido per meat aequore.

Pubes quin etiam deeolor asperis
inritata odiis rege sub inpio 70

CATHEMERINON V. 49

But, mad with jealous fury, Egypt's king
Calls his great host to battle for their lord :
Swiftly the cohorts gather at his word.

And down the mail-clad lines the clarions ring.

Girding their trusty swords the warriors go
To fill the ranks; hoarse bugles rend the air ;
These seize their massy javelins, these pre-
pare

The death-winged arrow and the Cretan bow.

The footmen throng in close battalions pressed;
The chariots thunder ; to the saddle spring
The riders of the Nile, as forth they fling

Egypt's proud banner with the serpent crest.

And now, forgetful of the bondage past,
Thy children, tortured by the desert heat,
Drag to the Red Sea's brink their weary feet,

And on its sandy margin rest at last.

See ! with their forsworn king the savage foe
Draws nigh : the threatening squadrons

nearer ride ;
But ever onward urged the intrepid guide

And through the waves bade Israel fearless go.

Before that steadfast march the billows fall.
Then raise on either hand their crystal mass.
While through the sundered deep Thy
people pass

And ocean guards them with a liquid waP.

But, mad with baffled rage, the dusky horde
Of Egypt, by tlicir impious despot led,

50 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Hebraeum sitiens fundere sanguinem
audet se pelago credere concavo :

ibant praecipiti turbine percita
lluctus per niedios agmina regia,
sed confusa dehinc unda revolvitur
in semet revolans gurgite confluo.

75

Currus tunc et equos telaque naufraga
ipsos et proreres et vaga corpora
nigrorum videas nare satellitum,
arcis iustitiuni triste tyrannicae. 80

Quae tandem poterit lingua retexere
laudes Christe tuas ? qui domitam Pharon
plagis multimodis cedere praesuli
cogis iustitiae vindice dextera.

Qui pontum rapidis aestibus invium 85
persultare vetas, ut refluo in salo
securus pateat te duce transitus,
et mox unda rapax devoret inpios.

Cui ieiuna eremi saxa loquacibus
exundant scatebris, et latices novos 90

fundit scissa silex, quae sitientibus
dat potum populis axe sub igneo.

Instar fellis aqua tristifico in lacu
fit ligni venia mel velut Atticum :

CATHEMERINON V. 51

Athirst the hated Hebrews' blood to slied
Pursued, all reckless of the o'er-arching flood.

Swift as the wind the royal squadrons ride,
But swifter yet the crystal barriers break,
The waves exultantly their bounds forsake

And roll together in a roaring tide.

'Mid steeds and chariots and drifting mail
The drowned lords of Egypt found a grave
With all their swart retainers 'neath the
wave ;

And in their haughty courts the mourners wail.

What tongue, O Christ, Thy glories can un-
fold ?
Thine was the arm, outstretched in wrath,

that made
The stricken land of Pharaoh, sore afraid.
Bow down before Thy minister of old.

Thy pathless deep did at the voice restrain
Its surging billows, till with Thee for guide
Thy host passed scathless, and the refluent
tide
Swept down the wicked to the engulfing main.

At Thy command the desert, parched and dry,
Breaks into laughing rills, and water clear
Wells from the smitten rock Thy flock to
cheer
And quench their thirst beneath that brazen
sky.

Then Marah's bitterness grew passing sweet,
Touched by the mystic tree; so by the grace

52 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

lignum est, quo sapiunt aspera dulcius ; 95
uam praefixa cruci spes hominuni viget.

Inplet castra cibus tunc quoque ninguidus,
inlabens gelida grandine densius :
his mensas epulis, hac dape construunt,
quam dat sidereo Christus ab aethere. 100

Nee non imbrifero ventus anhelitu
crassa nube leves invehit alites,
quae conflata in humum, cum semel agmina
fluxerunt, reduci non revolant fuga.

Haec olim patribus praemia contulit 105
insignis pietas numinis unici,
cuius subsidio nos quoque vescimur
pascentes dapibus pectora mysticis.

Fessos ille vocat per freta seculi
discissis populum turbinibus regens 1 10
iactatasque aninias mille laboribus
iustorum in patriam scandere praecipit.

Illic purpureis tecta rosariis
omnis fragrat humus calthaque pinguia
et moUes violas et tenues crocos 1 1 5

fundit fonticulis uda fugacibus.

Illic et gracili balsama surculo
desudata fluunt, raraque cinnama
spirant et folium, fonte quod abdito
praelambens fluvius portat in exitum. 1 20

CATHEMERINON V. 53

Of Thine own Tree, O Christ, our sinful race
Regains its lost hopes at Thy pierced feet.

Faster than icy hail the manna falls.

Like snow ciown drifting from a wintry sky ;
The feast is set : they heap the tables high

With that rich food from Thy celestial halls.

Fresh blow the breezes from the distant shore
And bear a fluttering cloud that hides the

light,
Till the frail pinions, faltering in their flight,

Sink in the wilderness to rise no more.

How great the love of God's own Son, that shed
Such wondrous bounty on His chosen race !
And still to us He proffers in His grace

The mystic Feast, wherewith our souls are fed.

Through the world's raging sea He bids us
come,
And'twixt the sundered billows guides our

path.
Till, spent and wearied with the ocean's
wrath.
He calls His storm-tossed saints to Heaven
and home.

There in His paradise red roses blow,
. With golden daflx»dils and lilies pale
And gentle violets, and down the vale
The murmuring rivulets for ever flow.

Sweet balsams, welling from the slender tree,
And precious spices fill the fragrant air.
And, hiding by the stream, that blossom rare

Whose leaves the river hurries to the sea.

54 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Felices animae prata per herbida
concentu parili suave sonantibus
hymnorum modulis dulce canunt melos,
calcant et pedibus lilia candidis.

Sunt et spiritibus saepe nocentibus 125
paenarum celebres sub Styge ferine
ilia nocte, sacer qua rediit Deus
stagnis ad superos ex Acheronticis.

Non sicut tenebras de face fulgida
surgens oceano Lucifer inbuit, 1 30

sed terris Domini de cruce tristibus
maior sole novum restituens diem.

Marcent suppliciis tartara mitibus,
exultatque sui carceris otio
functorum populus liber ab ignibus, 135
nee fervent solito flumina sulphure.

Nos festis trahimus per pia gaudia
noctem conciliis votaque prospera
certatim vigili congerimus prece
extructoque agimus liba sacrario. 140

Pendent mobilibus lumina funibus,
quae suffixa micant per laquearia,
et de languidulis fota natatibus
lucem perspicuo flamma iacit vitro.

CATHEMERINON V. 55

There the blest souls with one accord unite
To hymn in dulcet song their Saviour's

praise,
And as the chanting quire their voices raise

They tread with shining feet the lilies bright.

Yea, e'en the spirits of the lost, that dwell
Where the black stream of sullen Acheron

flows,
Rest on that holy night when Christ arose,

And for a while 'tis holiday in Hell.

No sun from ocean rising drives away

Their darkness, with his flaming shafts far-
hurled,
But from the cross of Christ o'er that wan
world
There streams the radiance of a new-born day.

The sulphurous floods with lessened fury glow,
The aching limbs find respite from their pain,
While, in glad freedom from the galling
chain.

The tortured ghosts a short-lived solace know.

In holy gladness let this night be sped,

As here we gather. Lord, to watch and pray ;
To Thee with one consent our vows we pay

And on Thy altar set the sacred Bread,

Frompendentchains the lamps of crystal blaze ;
By fragrant oil sustained the clear flame glows
With strength undimmed, and through the
darkness throws

High o'er the fretted roof a golden haze,

, AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Credas stelligeram desuper aream 145
ornatam geniinis stare trionibus,
et qua bosporeum temo regit iugum,
passim purpureos spargier hesperos.

O res digna, Pater, quam tibi roscidae
noctis principio grex tuus ofFerat, 150

lucem, qua tribuis nil pretiosius,
lucem, qua reliqua praemia cernimus.

Tu lux vera oculis, lux quoque sensibus,
intus tu speculum, tu speculum foris,
lumen, quod famulans ofFero, suscipe, 155
tinctum pacifici chrismatis unguine.

Per Christum genitum, summe Pater, tuum,
in quo visibilis stat tibi gloria,
qui noster Dominus, qui tuus unicus
spiral de patrio corde paraclitum. 160

Per quem splendor, honos, laus, sapientia,
maiestas, bonitas, et pietas tua
regnum continual numine triplici
texens perpetuis secula seculis.

I

CATHEMERINON V. 57

As 'twere Heaven's starry floor our wondering
eye
Beheld, wherein the Bears their light display,
Where Phosphor heralds the approach of day

And Hesper's radiance floods the evening sky.

Meet is the gift we oflTer here to Thee,
Father of all, as falls the dewy night ;
Thine own most precious gift we bring —
the light

Whereby mankind Thy other bounties see.

Thou art the Light indeed ; on our dull eyes
And on our inmost souls Thy rays are

poured ;
To Thee we light our lamps : receive them,
Lord,
Filled with the oil of peace and sacrifice.

O hear us. Father, through Thine only Son,
Our Lord and Saviour, by Whose love

bequeathed
The Paraclete upon our hearts has breathed.

With Him and Thee through endless ages one,

ThroughChristThy Kingdom shallforeverbe.
Thy grace, might, wisdom, glory ever shine.
As in the Triune majesty benign

He reigns for all eternity with Thee.

VI. HYMNUS ANTE SOMNUM

Ades Pater supreme,
quern nemo vidit unquam,
Patrisque sermo Christe,
et Spiritus benigne.

O Trinitatis huius 5

vis una, lumen unum,
Deus ex Deo perennis,
Deus ex utroque missus.

Fluxit labor diei,
redit et quietis hora, 10

blandus sopor vicissim
fessos relaxat artus.

Mens aestuans procellis
curisque sauciata

totis bibit mcdullis 15

obliviale poclum.

Serpit per omne corpus
Lethaea vis, nee ullum
miseris doloris aegri
patitur manere sensum. 20

Lex haec data est caducis
Deo iubente membris,
ut temperet laborem
medicabilis voluptas.
58

VI. HYMN BEFORE SLEEP

Draw near, Almighty Father,
Ne'er seen by mortal eye ;

Come, O Thou Word eternal,
O Spirit blest, be nigh.

One light of threefold Godhead,
One power that all transcends ;

God is of God begotten.

And God from both descends.

The hour of rest approaches,
The toils of day are past,

And o'er our tired bodies
Sleep's gentle charm is cast.

The mind, by cares tormented
Amid life's storm and stress,

Drinks deep the wondrous potion
That brings forgetfulness.

O'er weary, toil-worn mortals
The spells of Lethe steal ;

Sad hearts lose all their sorrow,
Nor pain nor anguish feel.

For to His frail creation
God gave this law to keep,

That labour should be lightened
By soft and healing sleep.
59

6o AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Sed dum pererrat omnes 25

quies arnica venas,
pectusque feriatum
placat rigante somno :

Liber vagat per auras
rapido vigore sensus, 30

variasque per figuras,
quae sunt operta, cernit.

Quia mens soluta curis,
cui est origo caelum,
purusque fons ab aethra 35

iners iacere nescit.

Imitata multiformes
facias sibi ipsa fingit,
per quas repente currens
tenui fruatur actu. 40

Sed sensa somniantum
dispar fatigat horror,
nunc splendor intererrat
qui dat futura nosse.

Plerumque dissipatis 45

mendax imago veris
animos pavore maestos
ambage fallit atra.

Quern rara culpa morum
non polluit frequenter, 50

nunc lux serena vibrans
res edocet latentes.

CATHEMERINON VI. 6i

But while sweet languor wanders
Through all the pulsing veins,

And, wrapt in dewy slumber,
The heart at rest remains,

The soul, in wakeful vigour,

Aloft in freedom flies,
And sees in many a semblance

The hidden mysteries.

For, freed from care, the spirit
That came from out the sky,

Born of the stainless aether.
Can never idle lie.

A thousand changing phantoms
She fashions through the night,

And 'midst a world of fancy
Pursues her rapid flight.

But divers are the visions

That night to dreamers shows ;

Rare gleams of straying splendour
The future may disclose ;

More oft the truth is darkened,

And lying fantasy
Deceives the afl^righted sleeper

With cunning treachery.

To him whose life is holy

The things that are concealed

Lie open to his spirit

In radiant light revealed ;

62 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

At qui coinquinatum
vitiis cor inpiavit,

lusus pavore multo 55

species videt tremendas.

Hoc patnarcha noster
sub carceris catena
geminis simul ministris
interpres adprobavit. 60

Quorum reversus unus
dat poculum tyranno,
ast alterum rapaces
fixum vorant volucres.

Ipsum deinde regem 65

perplexa somniantem
monuit faniem futuram
clausis cavere acervis.

Mox praesul ac tetrarches
regnum per omne iussus 70

sociam tenere virgam
dominae resedit aulae.

O quam profunda iustis
arcana per soporem
aperit tuenda Christus, 75

quam clara ! quam tacenda !

Evangelista summi
fidissimus magistri
signata quae latebant
nebulis videt remotis : 80

I

CATHEMERINON VI. 63

But he whose heart is blackened,

With many a sin imbued,
Sees phantoms grim and ghastly

That beckon and delude.

So in the Egyptian dungeon

The patriarch of old
Unto the king's two servants

Their fateful visions told :

And one is brought from prison
The monarch's wine to pour.

One, on the gibbet hanging.
Foul birds of prey devour,

He warned the king, distracted

By riddles of the night,
To hoard the plenteous harvests

Against the years of blight.

Soon, lord of half a kingdom,

A mighty potentate,
He shares the royal sceptre

And dwells in princely state.

But ah ! how deep the secrets

The holy sleeper sees
To whom Christ shows His highest,

Most sacred mysteries.

For God's most faithful servant
The clouds were rolled away.

And John beheld the wonders
That sealed from mortals lay.

64 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

ipsum tonantis agnum
de caede purpurantem,
qui conscium futuri
librum resignat unus.

Huius manum potentem 85

gladius perarmat anceps
et fulgurans utrimque
duplicem minatur ictum.

Quaesitor ille solus
animaeque corporisque 90

ensisque bis timendus
prima ac secunda mors est.

idem tamen benignus
ultor retundit iram

paucosque non piorum 95

patitur perire in aevum.

Huic inclitus perenne
tribuit Pater tribunal,
hunc obtinere iussit
nomen supra omne nomen. 100

Hie praepotens cruenti
extinctor antichristi, dj

qui de furente monstro
pulchrum refert tropaeum.

^uam bestiam capacem 105

populosque devorantem,
quam sanguinis charybdem
loannis execratur.

CATHEMERINON VL 65

The Lamb of God, eucrimsoned

With sacriiicial stains,
Alone the Book can open

That destiny contains.

By His strong hand is wielded

A keen, two-edged brand
That, flashing like the lightning,

Smites swift on either hand.

Before His bar of judgment

Both soul and body lie ;
He whom that dread sword smiteth

The second death shall die.

Yet mercy tempers justice,
And few the Avenger sends

(Whose guilt is past all pardon)
To de^th that never end;;.

To Him the Father yieldeth
The judgment-seat of Heaven ;

To Him a Name excelling
All other names is given.

For by His strength transcendent

Shall Antichrist be slain,
And from that raging monster

Fair trophies shall He gain :

That all-devouring Dragon,

With blood of martyrs red,
On whose abhorred power

John's solemn curse is laid.

B

66 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Haec ncmpe, quae sacratum
praeferre nomen ausa est, no

imam petit gehennam
Christo perempta vero.

Tali sopore iustus
mentem relaxat heros,
ut spiritu sagaci 1 1 5

caelum peragret omne.

Nos nil meremur horum,
quos creber inplet error,
concreta quos malarum
vitiat cupido rerum. 1 20

Sat est quiete dulci
fessum fovere corpus :
sat, si nihil sinistrum
vanae minentur umbrae.

Cultor Dei memento 125

te fontis et lavacri
rorem subisse sanctum,
te chrismate innotatum.

Fac, cum vocante somno
castum petis cubile, 1 30

trontcm locumque cordis
crucis figura signet.

Crux pellit omne crimen,
tugiunt crucem tenebrae :
tali dicata signo 135

mens fluctuare nescit.

CATHEMERINON VI. 67

And thus the proud usurper

Of His high name is cast
By Him, the true Christ, vanquished

To deepest hell at last.

Upon the saint heroic
^ Such wondrous slumber falls
That, in the spirit roaming,

He treads heaven's highest halls.

We may not, in our weakness,
To dreams like these aspire,

Whose souls are steeped in error
And evil things desire.

Enough, if weary bodies

In peaceful sleep may rest ;
Enough, if no dark powers

Our slumbering souls molest.

Christian ! the font remember.

The sacramental vow,
The holy water sprinkled.

The oil that marked thy brow !

When at sleep's call thou seekest

To rest in slumber chaste,
Let first the sacred emblem

On breast and brow be traced.

The Cross dispels all darkness,

All sin before it flies.
And by that sign protected

The mind ail fear denes.

68 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Piocul, 0 procul vagantum
portenta somnioruni,
procul esto pervicaci
praestigiator astu ! 1 40

O tortuose serpens,
qui mille per Maeandros
fraudesque flexuosas
agitas quieta corda,

Discede, Christus hie est, 145

hie Chrisius est, liquesce :
signuin quod ipse nosti
damnat tuam eatervam.

Corpus lieet fatiseens
iaeeat recline paullum, 150

Christum tamen sub ipso
mediiabimur sopore.

i

CATHEMERINON VI. 69

Avaunt ! ye fleeting phantoms
That mock, our midnight hours ;

Avaunt ! thou great Deceiver
With all thy guileful powers.

Thou Serpent, old and crafty,

Who by a thousand arts
And manifold temptations

Dost vex our sleeping hearts,

Vanish ! for Christ is with us ;

Away ! 'tis Christ the Lord :
The sign thou must acknowledge

Condemns thy hellish horde.

And, though the weary body

Relaxed in sleep may be.
Our hearts, Lord, e'en in slumber.

Shall meditate on Thee.

VII. HYMNUS lEIUNANTIUM

O Nazarene, lux Bethlem, verbum Patris,
quem partus alvi virginalis protulit,
adesto castis Christe parsimoniis,
festumque nostrum rex serenus adspice,
ieiuniorum dum litamus victimam. 5

Nil hoc profecto purius mysterio,
quo fibra cordis expiatur uvidi,
intemperata quo domantur viscera,
arvina putrem ne resudans crapulam
obstrangulatae mentis ingenium premat. 10

Hinc subiugatur luxus et turpis gula,
vini atque somni degener socordia,
libido sordens, inverecundus lepos,
variaeque pestcs languidorum sensuum
parcam subactae disciplinam sentiunt. 1 5

Nam si licenter diffluens potu et cibo
ieiuna rite membra non coerceas,
sequitur frcquenti marcida oblectamine
scintilla mentis ut tepescat nobilis,
animusque pigris stertat in praecordiis, to

Frenentiir ergo corporum cupidines,
detersa et intus emicet prudentia :

70

I

VII. HYMN FOR THOSE WHO
FAST

O Jesus, Light of Bethlehem,

True Son of God, Incarnate Word ;

Thou offspring of a Virgin's womb.
Be present at our frugal board ;

Accept our fast, our sacrifice,

And smile upon us, gracious Lord.

For by this holiest mystery

The inward parts are cleansed from stain,
And, taming all the unbridled lusts,

Our sinful flesh we thus restrain,
Lest gluttony and drunkenness

Should choke the soul and cloud the brain.

Hence appetite and luxury

Are forced their empire to resign ;

The wanton sport, the jest obscene,
The ignoble sway of sleep and wine,

And all the plagues of languid sense
Feel the strict bonds of discipline.

For if, full fed with meat and drink,
The flesh thou ne'er dost mortify,

The mind, that spark of sacred flame,
By pleasure dulled, must fail and die,

And pent in its gross prison-house
The soul in shameful torpor lie.

So be thy carnal lusts controlled,

So be thy judgment clear and bright ;

71

72 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

sic excitato perspicax acumine

liberque flatu laxiore spiritus

rerum parentem rectius precabitur. 25

Elia tali crevit observantia,
vetus sacerdos, ruris hospes aridi :
fragore ab omni quem remotum et segregem
sprevisse tradunt ciiminuni frequentiam,
casto fruentem syrtium silentio. 30

Sed mox in auras igneis iugalibus
curruque raptus evolavit praepete,
ne de propinquo sordium contagio
dirus quietuni mundus adflaret virum,
olim probatis inclitum ieiuniis. 35

Non ante caeli principem septemplicis
Moyses tremendi fidus interpres throni
potuit videre, quani decern recursibus
quater volutis sol peragrans sidera
omni carentem cerneret substantia. 40

Victus precanti solus in lacrimis fuit :
nam flendo pernox inrigatum pulverem
humi madentis ore pressit cernuo,
donee loquentis voce praestrictus Dei
expavit ignem non ferendum visibus. 45

Toannis huius artis baud minus potens,
Dei perennis praecucurrit filium,

CATHEMERINON VII. 73

Then shall thy spirit, swift and free,

Be gifted with a keener sight,
And breathing in an ampler air

To the All-Father pray aright.

Ellas by such abstinence,

Seer of the desert, grew in grace,

Who left the madding haunts of men
And found a peaceful resting-place,

Where, far from sinful crowds, he trod
The pure and silent wilderness.

Till by those fiery coursers drawn

The swift car bore him through the air,

Lest earth's defiling touch should mar
The holiness it might not share.

Or some polluting breath disturb

The peace attained by fast and prayer.

Moses, through whom from His dread throne
The will of God to man was told.

No food might touch till through the sky
The sun full forty times had rolled.

Ere God before him stood revealed,
Lord of the heavens sevenfold.

Tears were his meat, while bent in prayer
Through the long nigiu he bowed his head

E'en to the thirsty dust, that drank
The drops in bitter weeping shed ;

Till, at God's call, he saw the flame
No eye may bear, and was afraid.

The Baptist, too, was strong in fast —
Forerunner in a later day

74 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

curves viarum qui retoisit tramites

et flexuosa conrigens dispendia

dedit sequendam calle recto lineam. 50

Hanc obsequelam praeparabat nuntius
mox adfuturo construens iter Deo,
clivosa planis, confragosa ut lenibus
converterentur, neve quidquam devium
inlapsa terris inveniret Veritas. 5 5

Non usitatis ortus hie natalibus
oblita lactis iam vieto in pectore
matris tetendit serus infans ubera :
nee ante partu de senili efFusus est,
quam praediearet virginem plenam Deo. 60

Post in patentes ille solitudines
amietus hirtis bestiarum pellibus
setisve teetus hispida et lanugine
seeessit, horrens inquinari et pollui
contaminatis oppidorum moribus. 65

Illic dicata parcus abstinentia
potum cibumque vir severae industriae
in usque serum respuebat vesperum,
parvum locustis et favorum agrestium
liquore pastum corpori suetus dare. 70

Hortator ille primus et doctor novae
fuit salutis, nam sacrato in flumine

CATHEMERINON VII. 75

Of God's Eternal Son — who made
The byepaths plain, the crooked way

A road direct, wherein His feet
Might travel on without delay.

This was the messenger's great task
Who for God's advent zealously

Prepared the way, the rough made smooth,
The mountain levelled to the sea ;

That, when Truth came from heaven to earth,
All fair and straight His path should be.

He was not born in common wise,
For dry and wrinkled was the breast

Of her that bare him late in years.
Nor found she from her labour rest,

Till she had hailed with lips inspired
The Maid with unborn Godhead blest.

For him the hairy skins of beasts
Furnished a raiment rude and wild.

As forth into the lonely waste
He fared, an unbefriended child.

Who dwelt apart, lest he should be
By evil city-life defiled.

There, vowed to abstinence, he grew
To manhood, and with stern disdain

He turned from meat and drink, until
He saw night's shadow fall again ;

And locusts and the wild bees' store
Sufficed his vigour to sustain.

The first was he to testify

Of that new life which man might win ;

76 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

veterum piatas lavit errorum notas :

sed tincta postquam membra defaecaverat,

caelo refulgens influebat spiritus. 75

Hoc ex lavacro labe dempta criminum
ibant renati non secus, quam si rudis
auri lecocta vena pulchrum splendeat,
micet metalli sive lux argentei,
sudum polito praenitens purgamine. 80

Referre prisci stemma nunc ieiunii
libet fideli proditum volumine,
ut diruendae civitatis incolis
fulmen benigni mansuefactum Patris
pie repressis ignibus pepercerit. 85

Gens insolenti praepotens iactantia
pollebat olim, quam fluentem nequiter
conrupta vulgo solverat lascivia,
et inde bruto contumax fastidio
cultum superni negligebat numinis. 90

OfFensa tandem iugis indulgentiae
censura iustis excitatur motibus,
dextram perarmat rhompheali incendio
nimbos crepantes et fragosos turbines
vibrans tonantum nube flammarum quatit. 95

Sed paenitendi dum datur diccula,
si forte vellent inprobam libidinem

CATHEMERINON VII. 77

In Jordan's consecrating stream

He purged the stains of ancient sin,

And, as he made the body clean.
The radiant Spirit entered in.

Forth from the holy tide they came
Reborn, from guilt's pollution free,

As bright from out the cleansing fire
Flows the rough gold, or as we see

The glittering silver, purged of dross,
Flash into polished purity.

Now let us tell, from Holy Writ,
Of olden fasts the fairest crown ;

How God in pity stayed His hand.
And spared a doomed and guilty town.

In clemency the flames withheld

And laid His vengeful lightnings down.

A mighty race of ancient time

Waxed arrogant in boastful pride ;

Debauched were they, and borne along
On foul corruption's loathsome tide.

Till in their stiff-necked self-conceit
They e'en the God of Heaven denied.

At last Eternal Mercy turns

To righteous judgment, swift and dire ;
He shakes the clouds ; the mighty sword

Flames in His hand, and in His ire
He wields the roaring hurricane

'Mid murky gloom and flashing fire.

Yet in His clemency He grants
To penitence a brief delay,

78 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

vcteresquc nugas condomare ac frangere,

suspendit ictum tenor exorabilis

paullumque dicta substitit sententia. lOO

lonam prophetam mitis ultor excitat,
paenae inminentis iret ut praenuntius,
sed nosset ille qui minacem iudicem
servare malle, quam ferire ac plectere,
tectam latenter vertit in Tharsos fugam. 105

Celsam paratis pontibus scandit ratem,
udo revincta fune puppis solvitur,
itur per altuni, fit procellosum mare :
turn causa tanti quaeritur periculi,
sors in fugacem missa vatem decidit. 1 1 o

lussus perire solus e cunctis reus,
cuius voluta crimen urna expresserat,
praeceps rotatur et profundo inmergitur :
exceptus inde beluinis faucibus
alvi capacis vivus hauritur specu. 1 1 5

Intactus exin tertiae noctis vice
monstri vomentis pellitur singultibus,
qua murniuranti fine fluctus frangitur,
salsosque candens spuma tundit pumices,
ructatus exit seque servatum stupet. 130

In Nini vitas se coactus percito
gressu reflectit, quos ut increpaverat

CATHEMERINON VII. 79

That they might burst the bonds of lust

And put their vanities away ;
His sentence given, He waits awhile

And stays the hand upraised to slay.

To warn them of the wrath to come
The Avenger in His mercy sent

Jonah the seer ; but, — though he knew
The threatening Judge would fain relent

Nor wished to strike, — towards Tarshish town
The prophet's furtive course was bent.

As up the galley's side he climbed.

They loosed the dripping rope, and passed

The harbour bar ; then on them burst
The sudden fury of the blast ;

And when their peril's cause they sought,
The lot was on the recreant cast.

The man whose guilt the urn declares
Alone must die, the rest to save ;

Hurled headlong from the deck, he falls
And sinks beneath the engulfing wave.

Then, seized by monstrous jaws, is plunged
Into a vast and living grave.

• • • • •

At last the monster hurls him forth.
As the third night had rolled away ;

Before its roar the billows break

And lash the cliffs with briny spray ;

Unhurt the wondering prophet stands
And hails the unexpected day.

Thus turned again to duty's path
To Nineveh he swiftly came,

So AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

pudenda censor inputans opprobria ;
Inpendet, inquit, ira summi vindicis,
urbemque flaninia niox cremabit, credite. 1 3 5

Apicem deinceps ardui mentis petit
visurus inde conglobatum turbidae
fumum ruinae cladis at dirae struem,
tectus flagellis multinodis germinis,
nato et repente peifruens umbraculo. 140

Sed niaesta postquam civitas vulnus novi
hausit doloris, heu supremum palpitat :
cursant per ampla congregatim moenia
plebs et senatus, omnis aetas civium,
pallens iuventus, eiulantes feminae. 145

Placet frementem publicis ieiuniis
placare Christum, mos edendi spernitur,
glaucos amictus induit monilibus
matrona demptis, proque gemma et serico
crinem fluentem sordidus spargit cinis. 1 50

Squalent recincta veste bullati patres,
setasque plangens turba sumit textiles,
inpexa villis virgo bestialibus
nigrante vultum contegit velamine,
iacens arenis et puer provolvitur. 1 5 5

Rex ipse Coos aestuantem murices
laenam revulsa dissipabat fibula,

CATHEMERINON VII. 8i

Their lusts rebuked and boldly preached
God's judgment on their sin and shame ;

" Believe ! " he cried, " the Judge draws nigh
Whose wrath shall wrap your streets in
flame."

Thence to the lofty mount withdrew,

Where he might watch the smoke-cloud
lower

O'er blasted homes and ruined halls,
And rest beneath the shady bower

Upspringing in swift luxury

Of twining tendril, leaf and flower.

But when the guilty burghers heard
The impending doom, a dull despair

Possessed their souls ; proud senators,

Poor craftsmen, throng the highways fair ;

Pale youth with tottering age unites.
And women's wailing rends the air.

A public fast they now decree.

If they may thus Christ's anger stay :

No food they touch : each haughty dame
Puts silken robes and gems away,

In sable garbed, and ashes casts
Upon her tresses' disarray.

In dark and squalid vesture clad

The Fathers go : the mourning crowd

Dons rough attire : in shaggy skins

Enwrapped, fair maids their faces shroud

With dusky veils, and boyish heads
E'en to the very dust are bowed.

The King tears off his jewelled brooch
And rends the robe of Coan hue ;

F

82 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

gemmas virentes et lapillos sutiles,

insigne frontis exuebat vinculum

turpi capillos inpeditus pulvere. l6o

Nullus bibendi, nemo vescendi memor,
ieiuna mensas pubis omnis liquerat,
quin et negato lacte vagientium
fletu madescunt parvulorum cunulae,
sucum papillae parca nutrix derogat. 165

Greges et ipsos claudit armentalium
sellers virorum cura, ne vagum pecus
contingat ore rorulenta gramina,
potum strepentis neve fontis hauriant,
vacuis querelae personant praesepibus. 1 70

Mollitus his et talibus brevem Deus
iram refrenat temperans oraculum
prosper sinistrum, prona nam dementia
baud difficulter supplicem mortalium
solvit reatum fitque fautrix flentium. 175

Sed cur vetustae gentis exemplum oquor ?
pridem caducis cum gravatus artubus
lesus dicato corde ieiunaverit,
praenuncupatus ore qui prophetico
Emanuel est, sive nobiscum Deus. 180

Qui corpus istud moUe naturaliter
captumque laxo sub voluptatum iugo

CATHEMERINON VII. 83

Bright emeralds and lustrous pearls
Are flung aside, and ashes strew

The royal head, discrowned and bent,
As low he kneels God's grace to sue.

None thought to drink, none thought to eat;

All from the table turned aside,
And in their cradles wet with tears

Starved babes in bitter anguish cried,
For e'en the foster-mother stern

To little lips the breast denied.

The very flocks are closely penned

By careful hands, lest they should gain

Sweet water from the babbling stream
Or wandering crop the dewy plain ;

And bleating sheep and lowing kine
Within their barren sta'ls complain.

Moved by such penitence, full soon
God's grace repealed the stern decree

And curbed His righteous wrath ; for aye.
When man repents. His clemency

Is swift to pardon and to hear
His children weeping bitterly.

Yet wherefore of that bygone race
Should we anew the story tell ?

For Christ's pure soul by fasting long
The clogging bonds of flesh did quell ;

He Whom the prophet's voice foretold
As God with us, limmanuel.

Man's body — frail by nature's law

And bound by pleasure's easy chain —

84 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

virtutis arta lege fecit liberum :

emancipator servientis plasmatis

regnantis ante victor et cupidinis. 185

Inhospitali namque secretus loco
quinis diebus octies labentibus
nullam ciborum vindicavit gratiam,
firmans salubri scilicet ieiunio
vas adpetendis inbecillum gaudiis. 190

Miratus hostis posse limum tabidum
tantum laboris sustinere ac perpeti,
explorat arte sciscitator callida,
Deusne membris sit receptus terreis,
sed increpata fraude post tergum ruit. 195

Hoc nos sequamur quisque nunc pro viribus,
quod consecrati tu magister dogmatis
tuis dedisti Christe sectatoribus,
ut, cum vorandi vicerit libidinem,
late triumphet inperator spiritus. 200

Hoc est, quod atri livor hostis invidet,
mundi polique quod gubernator probat,
altaris aram quod facit placabilem,
quod dormientis excitat cordis fidem,
quod limat aegram pectoris rubiginem. 205

Perfusa non sic amne flamma extinguitur,
nee sic calente sole tabescunt nives,

CATHEMERINON VII. 85

He freed by virtue's strong restraint,

And gave it liberty again ;
He broke the bonds of flesh, and Lust

Was driven from his old domain.

Deep in the inhospitable wild

For forty days He dwelt alone
Nor tasted food, till, thus prepared,

All human weakness overthrown
By fasting's power. His mortal frame

Rejoiced the spirit's sway to own.

The Adversary, marvelling

To see this creature of a day
Endure such toil, spent all his guile

To learn if God in human clay
Had come indeed ; but soon rebuked

Behind His back fled shamed away.

Therefore let each with all his might
Follow the way the Master taught,

The law of consecrated life

Which Christ unto His servants brought ;

Till, with the lusts of flesh subdued.
The spirit reigns o'er act and thought.

'Tis this our jealous foe abhors,

'Tis this the Lord of earth and sky

Approves ; by this the soul is made
Thy holy altar, God Most High :

Faith stirs within the slumbering heart
And sin's corroding power must fly.

Swifter than water quenches fire.

Swifter than sunshine melts the snow.

86 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

ut tuibidarum scabra culparum seges

vanescit almo trita sub ieiunio,

si blanda semper misceatur largitas. 210

Est quippe et illud grande virtutis genus
operire nudos, indigentes pascere,
opem benignam ferre supplicantibus,
unam paremque sortis humanae vicem
inter potentes atque egenos ducere. 2 i 5

Satis beatus quisque dextram porrigit,
laudis rapacem, prodigam pecuniae,
cuius sinistra dulce factum nesciat :
ilium perennes protinus conplent opes,
ditatque fructus faenerantem centuplex. 220

CATHEMERINON VII. 87

Crushed out by soul-restoring fast
Vanish the sins that rankly grow,

If hand in hand with Abstinence
Sweet Charity doth ever go.

This too is Virtue's noble task,
To clothe the naked, and to feed

The destitute, with kindly care
To visit sufferers in their need ;

For king and beggar each must bear
The lot by changeless Fate decreed.

Happy the man whose good right hand

Seeks but God's praise, and flings his gold

Broadcast, nor lets his left hand know
The gracious deed ; for wealth untold

Shall crown him through eternal years
With usury an hundredfold.

VIII. HYMNUS POST lEIUNIUM

Christe servorum regimen tuorum,
mollibus qui nos moderans habenis
leniter frenas facilique septos
lege coerces :

ipse cum portans onus inpeditum 5

corporis duros tuleris labores,
maior exemplis famulos remisso
dogmate palpas.

Nona submissum rotat hora solem
partibus vixdum tribus evolutis, 10

quarta devexo superest in axe
portio lucis.

Nos brevis voti dape vindicata
solvimus festum fruimurque mensis
adfatim plenis, quibus inbuatur 15

prona voluptas.

Tantus aeterni favor est magistri,
doctor indulgens ita nos amico
lactat hortatu, levis obsequela ut

mulceat artus. 20

Addit et, ne quis velit invenusto
sordidus cultu lacerare frontem,
sed decus vultus capitisque pexum
comat honorem.
88

VIII. HYMN AFTER FASTING

O Christ, of all Thy servants Guide,

Mild is the yoke I'hou mak'st us bear,
Leading us gently by Thy side
With gracious care.

Thy love took up our life's hard load

And spent in grievous toils its might :
Thy bond-slaves tread the easier road
Led by Thy light.

Nine hours have run their course away,
The sun sped three parts of its race :
And what remains of the short day
Fadeth apace.

The holy fast hath reached its end ;

Our table now Thou loadest. Lord :
With all Thy gifts true gladness send
To grace our board.

Such is our Master's gentle sway,

So kind the teaching in His school.
That all find rest who will obey
His easy rule.

Thou would'st not have us scorn the grace

Of cleanliness and vesture fair :
Thou lovest not a soilM face
And unkempt hair,
89

90 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Terge ieiunans, ait, omne corpus, 25
neve subducto faciem rubore
luteus tinguat color aut notetur
pallor in ore.

Rectius laeto tegimus pudore,
quidquid ad cultum Patris exhibemus : 30
cernit occultum Deus et latentem
munere donat.

Ule ovem morbo residem gregique
perditam sano male dissipantem
vellus adfixis vepribus per hirtae 35

devia silvae.

Inpiger pastor revocat iupisque
gestat exclusis humeros gravatus,
inde purgatam revehens aprico

reddit ovili : 40

Redd it et pratis viridique campo,
vibrat inpexis ubi nulla lappis
spina, nee germen sudibus perarmat
carduus horrens :

Sed frequens palmis nemus et reflexa 45
vernat herbarum coma, turn perennis
gurgitem vivis vitreum fluentis
laurus obunibrat.

Hisce pro donis tibi, fide pastor,
servitus quaenam poterit rependi ? 50
nulla conpensant pretium salutis
vota precantum.

CATHEMERINON VIII. 91

Let him that fasts, Thou saidst, be clean,
Nor lose health's fair and ruddy glow :
Let no wan sallowness be seen
Upon his brow.

'Tis better in glad modesty

Of our good works to shun display :
God sees what 'scapes our neighbour's eye
And will repay.

That Shepherd keen seeks one lost sheep

Sickly and weak, strayed from the fold,
Fleece torn with briers of thickets deep,
Foolishly bold.

He drives the wolves far from the track :

And found He brings on shoulders borne
To sunlit pen the wanderer back,
No more forlorn :

Yea, to the meads and grassy fields

The lamb restores, where no thorn balks,
No rough burrs tear, no thistle yields
Its bristling stalks :

But leaves of green herbs brightly glance

And in the grove the palm-trees dream,
And laurels shade the eddying dance
Of crystal stream.

For all these gifts, O Shepherd dear,
What service can I render Thee ?
No grateful vows my debt shall clear
For love so free.

92 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Quanilibet spreto sine more pastu
sponte confectos tenueinus artus,
teque contemptis epulis rogemus 55

nocte dieque ;

Vincitur semper minor obsequentum
cura, nee munus genitoris aequat,
frangit et cratem luteam laboris

grandior usus. 60

Ergo ne limum fragilem solutae
deserant vires et aquosus albis
humor in venis dominetur aegruni
corpus inervans,

Laxus ac liber modus abstinendi 65

ponitur cunctis, neque nos severus
terror inpellit, sua quemque cogit
velle potestas.

Sufficit, quidquid facias, vocato
numinis nutu prius, inchoare, 70

sive tu mensam renuas cibumve
sumere temples.

Adnuit dexter Deus et secundo
prosperat vultu, velut hoc salubre
fidimus nobis fore, quod dicatas 75

carpimus escas.

Sit bonum, supplex precor et medelam
conferat membris, animumque pascat
sparsus in venas cibus obsecrantum

christicolarum. 80

CATHEMERINON VIII. 93

Though by self-chosen fasts severe

Our strength of limb we waste away:
Though, spurning food, we Thee revere
By night and day :

Yet our works never can o'ertake

Thy love or with Thy gifts compare :
Our toils this earthen vessel break,
The more we dare.

Therefore lest failing powers consume
Our fragile life and shrivelled veins
Pale 'neath the tyranny of rheum
And weakening pains :

Thou dost not rule perpetual Lent
For man, nor modest fare deny :
Fearless may each unto bis bent
His wants supply.

Enough that all our acts by prayer

Be sanctified unto Thy will,
Whether we fast, or with due care
Our needs fulfil.

Then shall God bless us for our good

And lead us to our soul's true wealth ;
For, if but consecrated, food
Shall bring us health.

O Lord, grant that our feast may spread

Marrow and strength throughout our flesh :
And may ail Christly souls be fed
With vigour fresh.

IX. HYMNUS OMNIS HORAE

Da puer plectrum, choreis ut canam
fidelibus

dulce carmen et melodum, gesta Christi in-
signia :

hunc camena nostra solum pangat, hunc
laudet lyra.

Christus est, quem rex sacerdos adfuturum

protinus
infulatus concinebat voce, chorda et tym-

pano, 5

spiritum caelo influentem per medullas

hauriens.

Facta nos et iam probata pangimus mir-

acula,
testis orbis est, nee ipsa terra, quod vidit,

negat,
cominus Deum docendis proditum mor-

talibus.

Corde natus ex parentis, ante mundi ex-
ordium lO
alpha et ft cognominatus, ipse fons et

clausula
omnium, quae sunt, fuerunt quaeque post
futura sunt.

94

IX. HYMN FOR ALL HOURS

Let me chant in sacred numbers, as I strike

each sounding string,
Chant in sweet, melodious anthems, glorious

deeds of Christ our King ;
He, my Muse, shall be thy story ; with His

praise my lyre shall ring.

When the king in priestly raiment sang the

Christ that was to be.
Voice and lute and clashing cymbal joined

in joyous harmony,
While the Spirit, heaven-descended, touched

his lips to prophecy.

Sing we now the works sure proven, wrought

of God in mystic wise ;
Heaven is witness ; earth confesses how she

saw with wondering eyes
God Himself with mortals mingling, man to

teach in human guise.

Of the Father's heart begotten, ere the world
from chaos rose.
He is Alpha ; from that Fountain all that
is and hath been flows ;
He is Omega, of all things yet to come the
mystic Close.

95

96 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Ipse iussit et creata, dixit ipse, et facta
sunt

terra, caelum, fossa ponti, trina rerum ma-
china,

quaeque in his vigent sub alto solis et lunae
globo. 1 5

Corporis formam caduci, membra morti

obnoxia
induit, ne gens periret primoplasti ex ger-

mine,
merserat quam lex profundo noxialis tar-

taro.

O beatus ortus ille, virgo cum puerpera
edidit nostram salutem feta sancto spiritu, 20
et puer redcmptor orbis os sacratum pro-
tulit.

Psallat altitudo caeli, psallite onines

angeli,
quidquid est virtutis usquam psallat in laudem

Dei:
nulla linguarum silescat, vox et omnis con-

sonet.

Ecce quem vates vetustis concinebant
seculis, 25

quem prophetarum fidcles paginae spopon-
derant,

eniicat promissus olim : cuncta conlaudent
eum.

CATHEMERINON IX. 97

By His word was all created ; He commands

and lo ! 'tis done ;
Earth and sky and boundless ocean, universe

of three in one,
All that sees the moon's soft radiance, all

that breathes beneath the sun.

He assumed this mortal body, frail and feeble,

doomed to die,
That the race from dust created might not

perish utterly.
Which the dreadful Law had sentenced in the

depths of Hell to lie.

O how blest that wondrous birthday, when
the Maid the curse retrieved,
Brought to birth mankind's salvation, by the
Holy Ghost conceived ;

And the sacred Babe, Redeemer of the world,
her arms received.

Sing, ye heights of heaven, His praises ;

angels and archangels, sing !
Wheresoe'er ye be, ye faithful, let your

joyous anthems ring,
Every tongue His name confessing, countless

voices answering.

This is He whom seer and sibyl sang in ages

long gone by ;
This is He of old revealed in the page of

prophecy ;
Lo ! He comes, the promised Saviour ; let

the world His praises cry !

98 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Cantharis infusa lymphafit Falernum nobile,
nuntiat vinum minister esse promptum ex

hydiia,
ipse rex sapore tinctis obstupescit poculis. 30

Membra morbis ulcerosa, viscerum putre-

dines
mando, ut abluantur, inquit ; fit ratum, quod

iusserat,
turgidam cutcm repurgant vulnerum pia-

mina.

Tu perennibus tenebris iam sepulta la-
mina
inlinis limo salubri, sacri et oris nectare, 35
mox apertis hac medela lux reducta est
orbibus.

Increpas ventum furentem, quod procellis

tristibus
vertat aequor fundo ab imo, vexet et vagam

ratem :
ille iussis obsecundat, mitis unda sternitur.

Extimum vestis sacratae furtim mulier
attigit, 40

protinus salus secuta est, ora pallor de-
serit,

sistitur rivus, cruore qui fluebat perpeti.

CATHEMERINON IX. 99

In the urns the clear, cold water turns to

juice of noblest vine,
And the servant, drawing from them, starts

to see the generous wine.
While the host, its savour tasting, wonders at

the draught divine.

To the leper worn and wasted, white with

many a loathsome sore,
" Be thou cleansed," He said ; " I bid it ! "

swift 'tis done, His words restore ;
To the priest the gift he offers, clean and

healthful as of yore.

On the eyes long sealed in darkness, buried

in unbroken night.
Thou didst spread Thy lips' sweet nectar,

mixed with clay : then came the sight.
As Thy gracious touch all-healing brought

to those dark orbs the light.

Thou didst chide the raging tempest, when
the waves with foaming crest
Leaped about the fragile vessel, buffeted
and sore distressed ;

Wind and wave, their fury stilling, sank to
calm at Thy behest.

Once a woman's timid fingers touched Thy

garment's lowest braid,
And the pallor left her visage, healing

power the touch conveyed,
For the years of pain were ended and the

flow of blood was stayed.

loo AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Exitu dulcis iuventae raptum ephebum

viderat,
orba quern mater supremis funerabat fleti-

bus :
surge, dixit : ille surgit, matri et adstans

redditur. 45

Sole iam quarto carentem, iam sepulcro

absconditum
Lazarum iubet vigere reddito spiramine :
fetidum iecur reductus rursus intrat hali-

tus.

Ambulat per stagna ponti, summa calcat

fluctuum,
mobilis liquor profundi pendulam praestat

viam, 50

nee fatiscit unda Sanctis pressa sub ves-

tigiis.

Suetus antro bustuali sub catenis fren-

dere,
mentis inpos efFeratis percitus furoribus
prosilit ruitque supplex, Christum adesse ut

senserat.

Pulsa pestis lubricorum milleformis daemo-
num 55

conripit gregis suilli sordida spurcamina,
seque nigris mergit undis et pecus lymphati-
cum.

CATHEMERINON IX. loi

Thou didst see men bear to burial one struck
down in youth's glad tide,
While a widowed mother followed, wail-
ing for her boy that died ;

" Rise ! " Thou saidst, and led him gently
to his weeping mother's side.

Lazarus, who lay in darkness till three nights

had passed away,
At Thy voice awoke to soundness, rising

to the light of day,
As the breath his frame re-entered touched

already with decay.

See, He walks upon the waters, treads the

billow's rolling crest ;
O'er the shifting depths of ocean firm and

sure His footsteps rest,
And the wave parts not asunder where those

holy feet are pressed.

And the madman, chained and tortured by
dark powers, from whom all fly.
As the tombs, that were his dwelling,
echo to his savage cry,

Rushes forth and falls adoring, when he sees
that Christ is nigh.

Then the legion of foul spirits, driven from

their human prey,
Seize the noisome swine, that feeding high

upon the hillside stray.
And the herd, in sudden frenzy, plunges in

the waters grey.

I02 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Quinque panibus peresis et geniellis pisci-

bus
adfatim refecta iam sunt adcubantum milia,
fertque qualus ter quaternus ferculorum

fragmina. 60

Tu cibus panisque noster, tu perennis

suavitas ;
nescit esurire in aevum, qui tuam sumit

dapem,
nee lacunam ventris inplet, sed fovet vi-

talia.

Clausus aurium meatus et sonorum nes-

cius
purgat ad praecepta Christi crassa quaeque

obstacula, 65

vocibus capax fruendis ac susurris per-

vius.

Omnis aegritudo cedit, languor oninis

pellitur,
lingua fatur, quam veterna vinxerant si-

lentia,
gestat et suum per urbem laetus aeger

lectulum.

Quin et ipsum, ne salutis inferi expertes
forent, 70

tartarum benignus intrat, fracta cedit ianua,
vectibus cadit revulsis cardo indissolu-
bilis.

CATHEMERINON IX. 103

" Gather in twelve woven baskets all the

fragments that remain : "
He hath fed the weary thousands, resting

o'er the grassy plain,
And His power hath stayed their hunger

with five loaves and fishes twain.

Thine, O Christ, is endless sweetness ; Thou

art our celestial Bread :
Nevermore he knoweth hunger, who upon

Thy grace hath fed,
Grace whereby no mortal body but the soul

is nourished.

They that knew not speech nor language,
closed to every sound their ears,
To the Master's call responding break the
barriers of years ;

Now the deaf holds joyous converse and the
lightest whisper hears.

Sickness at His word departed, pain and

pallid languor fled,
Many a tongue, long chained in silence,

words of praise and blessing said ;
And the palsied man rejoicing through the

city bore his bed.

Yea, that they might know salvation who in
Hades' prison were pent,
In His mercy condescending through
Hell's gloomy gates He went ;

Bolt and massy hinge were shattered, adam-
antine portals rent.

I04 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Ilia prompta ad inruentes, ad revertentes

tenax,
obice extrorsum repulso porta reddit mor-

tuos :
lege versa et limen atrum iam recalcandum

patet. - 7 5

Sed Deus dum luce fulva mortis antra

inluminat,
dum stupentibus tenebris candidum praestat

diem,
tristia squalentis aethrae palluerunt sidera.

Sol refugit et lugubri sordidus ferru-

gine
igneum reliquit axem seque maerens ab-

didit : 8o

fertur horruisse mundus noctis aeternae

chaos.

Solve vocem mens sonoram, solve linguam

mobilem,
die tropaeum passionis, die triumphalem

crueem,
pange vexillum, notatis quod refulget fronti-

bus.

O novum caede stupenda vulneris miracu-
lum ! 85

hinc cruoris fluxit unda, lympha parte ex
altera :

lympha nempe dat lavacrum, tum corona ex
sanguine est.

CATHEMERINON IX. 105

For the door that all receiveth, but releaseth

nevermore.
Opens now and, slowly turning, doth the

ghosts to light restore,
Who, the eternal laws suspended, tread again

its dusky floor.

But, while God with golden glory floods the

murky realms of night,
And upon the startled shadows dawns a

day serene and bright,
In the darkened vault of heaven stars forlorn

refuse their light.

For the sun in garb of mourning veiled his

radiant orb and passed
From his flaming path in sorrow, hiding

till mankind aghast
Deemed that o'er a world of chaos Night's

eternal pall was cast.

Now, my soul, in liquid measures let the

sounding numbers flow ;
Sing the trophy of His passion, sing the

Cross triumphant now ;
Sing the ensign of Christ's glory, marked on

every faithful brow.

Ah ! how wondrous was the fountain flowing

from His pierced side.
Whence the blood and water mingled in a

strange and sacred tide, —
Water, sign of mvstic cleansing ; blood, the

martyr's crown of pride.

io6 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Vidit anguis inmolatani corporis sacri

hostiani,
vidit et fellis perusti mox venenum per-

didit,
saucius dolore multo colla fractus sibilat. 90

Quid tibi, profane serpens, profuit, rebus

novis
plasma primuni perculisse versipelli horta-

mine i
diluit culpam recepto forma mortalis Deo.

Ad brevem se mortis usum dux salutis

dedidit,
mortuos olim sepultos ut redire insues-

ceret, 95

dissolutis pristinorum vinculis peccaminum.

Tunc patres sanctique multi conditorem

praevium
iam revertentem secuti tertio demum die
carnis indumenta sumunt, eque bustis pro-

deunt.

Cerneres coire membra de favillis ari-
dis, 100

frigidum venis resumptis pulverem tepes-
cere,

ossa, nervos, ac medullas glutino cutis
teoi.

CATHEMERINON IX. 107

In that hour the ancient Serpent saw the holy

Victim slain,
Saw, and shed his hate envenomed, all his

malice spent in vain ;
See ! the hissing neck is broken as he writhes

in sullen pain.

Aye, what boots it, cursW Serpent, that the

man God made from clay,
Victim of thy baleful cunning, by thy lies

was led astray ?
God hath ta'en a mortal body and hath

washed the guilt away.

Christ, our Captain, for a season deigned to

dwell in Death's domain.
That the dead, long time imprisoned,

might return to life again,
Breaking by His great example ancient sins'

enthralling chain.

Thus, upon the third glad morning, patriarchs

and saints of yore.
As the risen Lord ascended, followed Him

who went before.
From forgotten graves proceeding, habited in

flesh once more.

Limb to limb unites and rises from the ashes

dry and cold,
And the life-blood courses warmly through

the frames long turned to mould,
Skin and flesh, anew created, muscle, bone

and nerve enfold.

io8 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Post, ut occasum rcsolvit vitae et hominem

reddidit,
arduum tribunal victor adscendit Patris,
inclitam caelo reportans passionis glori-

am. 105

Macte iudex mortuorum, macte rex viven-

tium,
dexter in parentis arce qui cluis virtuti-

bus
omnium venturus inde iustus ultor crimi-

num.

Te senes et te iuventus, parvulorum te

chorus,
turba matrum virginumque simplices puellu-

lae, no

voce Concordes pudicis perstrepant concenti-

bus.

Fluminum lapsus et undae, littorura crepi-

dines,
imber, aestus, nix, pruina, silva, et aura,

nox, dies,
omnibus te concelebrent seculorum secu-

lis.

CATHEMERINON IX. 109

Then, mankind to life restoring, Death down-
trodden 'neath His feet,
Lo ! the Victor mounts triumphant to the
Father's judgment-seat,

Bringing back to heaven the glory by His
passion made complete.

Hail ! Thou Judge of souls departed : hail !

of all the living King !
On the Father's right hand throned, through

His courts Thy praises ring,
Till at last for all offences righteous judgment

Thou shalt bring.

Now let old and young uniting chant to Thee

harmonious lays.
Maid and matron hymn Thy glory, infant

lips their anthem raise,
Boys and girls together singing with pure

heart their song of praise.

Let the storm and summer sunshine, gliding

stream and sounding shore,
Sea and forest, frost and zephyr, day and

night their Lord adore ;
Let creation join to laud Thee through the

ages evermore.

X. HYMNUS AD EXEQUIAS
DEFUNCTI

Deus ignee fons animarum,
duo qui socians elementa
vivum siniul ac moribunduni
hominem Pater effigiasti :

Tua sunt, tua rector utraque, 5

tibi copula iungitur horum,
tibi, dum vegetata cohaerent,
et spiritus et caro servit.

Rescissa sed ista seorsum
solvunt hominem perimuntque, 10

humus excipit arida corpus,
animae rapit aura liquorem.

Quia cuncta creata necesse est
labcfacta senescere tandem,
conpactaque dissociari, 1 5

et dissona texta retexi.

Hanc tu, Deus optima, mortem
famulis abolere paratus
iter inviolabile monstras,
quo perdita membra resurgant : 20

Ut, dum generosa caducis
ceu carcere clausa ligantur,
pars ilia potentior extet,
quae germen ab aethere traxit.
1 10

X. HYMN FOR THE BURIAL OF
THE DEAD

Fountain of life, supernal Fire,
Who didst unite in wondrous wise
The soul that lives, the clay that dies.

And mad'st them Man : eternal Sire,

Both elements Thy will obey.

Thine is the bond that joins the twain,
And, while united they remain.

Spirit and body own Thy sway.

Yet they must one day disunite,
Sunder in death this mortal frame ;
Dust to the dust from whence it came.

The spirit to its heavenward flight.

For all created things must wane,

And age must break the bond at last ;
The diverse web that Life held fast

Death's fingers shall unweave again.

Yet, gracious God, Thou dost devise
The death of Death for all Thine own;
The path of safety Thou hast shown

Whereby the doomM limbs may rise :

So that, while fragile bonds of earth
Man's noblest essence still enfold,
That part may yet the sceptre hold

Which from pure aether hath its birth.

112 AUR PRUDENTII CLEM.

Si terrea forte voluntas 25

luteum sapit et grave captat,
animus quoque pondere victus
sequitur sua membra deorsum.

At si generis memor ignis
contagia pigra recuset, 30

vehit hospita viscera secum,
pariterque reportat ad astra.

Nam quod requiescere corpus
vacuum sine mente videmus,
spatium breve restat, ut alt i 35

repetat conlegia sensus.

Venient cito secula, cum iam
socius calor ossa revisat
animataque sanguine vivo
habitacula pristina gestet. 40

Quae pigra cadavera pridcm
tumulis putrefacta iacebant,
volucres rapientur in auras
animas comitata priores.

Hinc maxima cura sepulcris 45

inpenditur : hinc resolutos
honor ultimus accipit artus
ct funeris ambitus ornat.

Candore nitentia claro
praetendere lintea mos est, 50

adspersaque myrrha Sabaeo
corpus medicamine servat.

CATHEMERINON X. 113

For if the earthy will hold sway,
By gross desires and aims possessed,
The soul, too, by the weight oppressed,

Follows the body's downward way.

But if she scorn the guilt that mars —
Still mindful of her fiery sphere —
She bears the flesh, her comrade here,

Back to her home beyond the stars.

The lifeless body we restore

To earth, must slumber free from pain
A little while, that it may gain

The spirit's fellowship once more.

The years will pass with rapid pace

Till through these limbs the life shall How,
And the long-parted spirit go

To seek her olden dwelling-place.

Then shall the body, that hath lain
And turned to dust in slow decay.
On airy wings be borne away

And join its ancient soul again.

Therefore our tenderest care we spend
Upon the grave : and mourners go
With solemn dirge and footstep slow —

Love's last sad tribute to a friend.

With fair white linen wc enfold

The dear dead limbs, and richest store
Of Eastern unguents duly pour

Upon the body still and cold.

H

114 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Quid nam sibi saxa cavata,
quid pulchra volant monumenta,
nisi quod res creditur illis 55

non mortua, sed data somno i

Hoc provida Christicolarum
pietas studet, utpote credens
fore protinus omnia viva,
quae nunc gelidus sopor urget. 60

Qui iacta cadavera passim
miserans tegit aggere terrae,
opus exhibet ille benignum
Cliristo pius omnipotenti :

Quin lex eadem monet omnes 65

gemitum dare sorte sub una,
cognataque funera nobis
aliena in morte dolere.

Sancti sator ille Tobiae
sacer ac venerabilis heros, 70

dapibus iam rite paratis
ius praetulit exequiarum.

lam stantibus ille ministris
cyathos et fercula liquit,
studioque accinctus humandi 75

fieto dedit ossa sepulcro.

Veniunt mox praemia caelo
pretiumque rependitur ingens :
nam lamina nescia solis
Deus inlita felle serenat. 80

CATHEMERINON X. 115

Why hew the rocky tomb so deep,
Why raise the monument so fair,
Save that the form we cherish there

Is no dead thing, but laid to sleep ?

This is the faithful ministry

Of Christian men, who hold it true
That all shall one day live anew

Who now in icy slumber lie.

And he whose pitying hand shall lay
Some friendless outcast 'neath the sod.
E'en to the almighty Son of God

Doth that benignant service pay.

For this same law doth bid us mourn
Man's common fate, when strangers die,
And pay the tribute of a sigh,

As when our kin to rest are borne.

Of holy Tobit ye have read,
(Grave father of a pious son),
Who, though the feast was set, would run

To do his duty by the dead.

Though waiting servants stood around.
From meat and drink he turned away
And girt himself in haste to lay

The bones with weeping in the ground.

Soon Heaven his righteous zeal repays
With rich reward ; the eyes long blind
In bitter gall strange virtue find

And open to the sun's clear rays.

n6 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

lam tunc docuit Pater orbis,
quam sit rationis egcnis
mordax et amara medela,
cum lux animum nova vexat.

Docuit quoque non prius uUum 85
caelestia cernere regna,
quam nocte et vulnere tristi
toleraverit aspera mundi.

Mors ipsa beatior inde est,
quod per cruciamina leti 90

via panditur ardua iustis
et ad astra doloribus itur.

Sic corpora mortificata
redeunt melioribus annis,
nee post obitum recalescens 95

conpago fatiscere novit.

Haec, quae modo pallida tabo
color albidus inficit ora,
tunc flore venustior omni
sanguis cute tinget amoena. 100

lam nulla deinde senectus
frontis decus invida carpet,
macics neque sicca lacertos
suco tenuabit adeso.

Morbus quoque pestifcr, artus 105
qui nunc populatur anhelos, .
sua tunc tormenta resudans
luet inter vincula mille.

CATHEMERINON X. 117

Thus hath our Heavenly Father shown
How sharp and bitter is the smart
When sudden on the purblind heart

The Daystar's healing light is thrown.

He taught us, too, that none may gaze
Upon the heavenly demesne
Ere that in darkness and in pain

His feet have trod the world's rough ways.

So unto death itself is given

Strange bliss, when mortal agony
Opens the way that leads on high

And pain is but the path to Heaven.

Thus to a far serener day

Our body from the grave returns ;

Eternal life within it burns
That knows nor languor nor decay.

These faces now so pinched and pale.
That marks of lingering sickness show,
Then fairer than the rose shall glow

And bloom with youth that ne'er shall fail.

Ne'er shall crabbed age their beauty dim
With wrinkled brow and tresses grey,
Nor arid leanness eat away

The vigour of the rounded limb.

Racked with his own destroying pains
Shall fell Disease, who now attacks
Our aching frames, his force relax

Fast fettered in a thousand chains :

n8 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Hunc eminus acre ab alto
victrix caro iamque perennis no

cernet sine fine gementem
quos moverat ipse dolores.

Quid turba superstes inepta
clangens ululamina miscet,
cur tam bene condita iura 1 1 c

luctu dolor arguit amens ?
«•- --^

lam maesta quiesce querela,
lacrimas suspendite matres,
nullus sua pignora plangat,
mors haec reparatio vitae est. 120

Sic semina sicca virescunt
iam mortua iamque sepulta,
quae reddita caespite ab imo
veteres meditantur aristas.

Nunc suscipe terra fovendum, 125
gremioque hunc concipe molli :
hominis tibi membra sequestro
generosa et fragmina credo.

Animae fuit haec domus olim
factor is ab ore creatae, 130

fervens habitavit in istis
sapientia principe Christo.

Tu depositum tege corpus,
non inmemor ilia requiret
sua munera fictor et auctor r 3 1;

propriique aenigmata vultus.

CATHEMERINON X. 119

While from its far celestial throne
The immortal body, victor now,
Shall watch its old tormentor bow

And in eternal tortures groan.

Why do the clamorous mourners wail
In bootless sorrow murmuring ?
And why doth grief unreasoning

God's righteous ordinance assail ?

Hushed be your voices, ye that mourn ;

Ye weeping mothers, dry the tear ;

Let none lament for children dear,
For man through Death to Life is born.

So do dry seeds grow green again.
Now dead and buried in the earth.
And rising to a second birth

Clothe as of old the verdant plain.

Take now, O earth, the load we bear,
And cherish in thy gentle breast
This mortal frame we lay to rest,

The poor remains that were so fair.

For they were once the soul's abode.
That by God's breath created came ;
And in them, like a living flame,

Christ's precious gift of wisdom glowed.

Guard thou the body we have laid
Within thy care, till He demand
The creature fashioned by His hand

And after His own image made.

I20 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Veniant modo tempora iusta,
cum spem Deus inpleat omnem ;
reddas patefacta necesse est,
qualem tibi trado figuram. 140

Non, si cariosa vetustas
dissolverit ossa favillis,
fueritque cinisculus arens
minimi mensura pugilli.

Nee, si vaga flamina et aurae 145

vacuum per inane volantes
tulerint cum pulvere nervos,
hominem periisse licebit.

Sed dum resolubile corpus
revocas, Deus, atque reformas, i 50

quanam regione iubebis
animam requiescere puram ?

Gremio senis addita sancti
recubabit, ut est Eleazar,
quem floribus undique septum 155

Dives procu! adspicit ardens.

Sequimur tua dicta redcmptor,
quibus atra morte triumphans
tua per vestigia mandas
socium crucis ire latronem. 160

Patet ecce fidelibus ampli
via lucida iam paradisi,
licet et nemus illud adire,
homini quod ademerat anguis.

CATHEMERINON X. 121

The appointed time soon may we see
When God shall all our hopes fulfil,
And thou must render to His will

Unchanged the charge we give to thee.

For though consumed by mould and rust
Man's body slowly fades away,
And years of lingering decay

Leave but a handful of dry dust ;

Though wandering winds, that idly fly,
Should his disparted ashes bear
Through all the wide expanse of air,

Man may not perish utterly.

Yet till Thou dost build up again
This mortal structure by Thy hand,
In what far world wilt Thou command

The soul to rest, now free from stain ?

In Abraham's bosom it shall dwell
'Mid verdant bowers, as Lazarus lies
Whom Dives sees with longing eyes

From out the far-off fires of hell.

We trust the words our Saviour said
When, victor o'er grim Death, he cried
To him who sufl^sred at His side

" In Mine own footsteps shalt thou tread."

See, open to the faithful soul,
The shining paths of Paradise ;
Now may they to that garden rise

Which from mankind the Serpent stole.

122 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Illic precor, optime ductor, 165
famulam tibi praecipe mentem
genitali in sede sacrari,
quam liquerat exul et errans.

Nos tecta fovebimus ossa
violis et fronde frequenti, 1 70

titulumque et frigida saxa
liquido spargemus odore.

CATHEMERINON X. 123

Guide him, we pray, to that blest bourn,
Who served Thee truly here below ;
May he the bliss of Eden know,

Who strayed in banishment forlorn.

But we will honour our dear dead
With violets and garlands strown.
And o'er the cold and graven stone

Shall fragrant odours still be shed.

XI. HYMNUS VIII. KALENDAS
lANUARIAS

Quid est, quod artum circulum
sol iam recurrens deserit ?
Christusne terris nascitur,
qui lucis auget tramitem ?

Heu quam fugacem gratiam 5

festina volvebat dies,
quam pene subductam facem
sensim recisa extinxerat !

Caelum nitescat laetius,
gratetur et gaudens humus, 10

scandit gradatim denuo
iubar priores lineas.

Emerge dulcis pusio,
quem mater edit castitas,
parens et expers coniugis, 1 5

mediator et duplex genus.

Ex ore quamlibet Patris
sis ortus et verbo editus,
tamen paterno in pectore
Sophia callebas prius. 20

Quae prompta caelum condidit,
caelum diemque et cetera,
virtute verbi efFecta sunt
haec cuncta : nam verbum Deus.
124

XI. HYMN FOR CHRISTMAS-DAY

Why doth the sun re-orient take

A wider range, his limits break ?

Lo ! Christ is born, and o'er earth's night

Shineth from more to more the light !

Too swiftly did the radiant day
Her brief course run and pass away :
She scarce her kindly torch had fired
Ere slowly fading it expired.

Now let the sky more brightly beam,
The earth take up the joyous theme :
The orb a broadening pathway gains
And with its erstwhile splendour reigns.

Sweet babe, of chastity the flower,
A virgin's blest mysterious dower !
Rise in Thy twofold nature's might :
Rise, God and man to reunite !

Though by the Father's will above
Thou wert begot, the Son of Love,
Yet in His bosom Thou didst dwell,
Of Wisdom the eternal Well ;

Wisdom, whereby the heavens were made
And light's foundations first were laid :
Creative Word ! all flows from Thee !
The Word is God eternally.
'25

126 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Sed ordinatis seculis, 25

rerumque digesto statu
fundator ipse et artifex
perniansit in Patris sinu,

donee rotata annalium
transvolverentur milia, 3*-*

atque ipse peccantem diu
dignatus orbem viseret.

Nam caeca vis niortalium
venerans inanes nenias
vel aera vel saxa algida, 35

vel ligna credebat Deuni.

Haec dum sequuntur, perfidi
praedonis in ius venerant,
et niancipatam fumido
vitam barathro inmerserant : 40

Strageni sed istam non tulit
Christus cadentum gentium
inpune ne forsan sui
Patris periret fabrica.

Mortale corpus induit, 45

ut excitato corpore
mortis catenam frangeret
hominemque portaret Patri.

Hie ille natalis dies,
quo te creator arduus 50

spiravit et limo indidit
sermone carnem glutinans.

CATHEMERINON XI. 127

For though with process of the suns
The ordered whole harmonious runs,
Still the Artificer Divine
Leaves not the Father's inmost shrine.

The rolling wheels of Time had passed
O'er their millennial journey vast,
Before in judgment clad He came
Unto the world long steeped in shame.

The purblind souls of mortals crass
Had trusted gods of stone and brass,
To things of nought their worship paid
And senseless blocks of wood obeyed.

And thus employed, they fell below
The sway of man's perfidious foe :
Plunged in the smoky sheer abyss
They sank bereft of their true bliss.

But that sore plight of ruined man
Christ's pity could not lightly scan :
Nor let God's building nobly wrought
Ingloriously be brought to nought.

He wrapped Him in our fieshly guise,
That from the tomb He might arise,
And man released from death's grim snare
Home to His Father's bosom bear.

This is the day of Thy dear birth,
The bridal of the heaven and earth.
When the Creator breathed on Thee
The breath of pure humanity.

128 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Sentisne, virgo nobilis,
niatura per fastidia

pudoris intactum decus 55

honore partus crescere ?

O quanta rerum gaudia
alvus pudica continet,
ex qua novellum seculum
procedit et lux aurea ! 60

Vagitus ille exordium
vernantis orbis prodidit,
nam tunc renatus sordidum
mundus veternum depulit.

Sparsisse tellurem reor 65

rus omne densis tloribus,
ipsasque arenas syrtium
fragrasse nardo et nectare.

Te cuncta nascentem puer
sensere dura et barbara, 70

victusque saxorum rigor
obduxit herbam cotibus.

lam mella de scopulis fluunt,
iam stillat ilex arido
sudans amomum stipite, 75

iam sunt myricis balsama.

O sancta praesepis tui,
aeterne rex, cunabula,
po])ulisque per seclum sacra
mutis et ipsis credita. 80

CATHEMERINON XI. 129

Ah ! glorious Maid, dost thou not guess
What guerdon thy chaste soul shall bless,
How by thy ripening pangs is bought
An honour greater than all thought ?

O what a load of joy untold

Thy womb inviolate doth hold !

Of thee a golden age is born,

The brightness of the earth's new morn !

Hearken ! doth not the infant's wail
The universal springtide hail ?
For now the world re-born lays by
Its gloomy, frost-bound apathy.

Mcthinks in all her rustic bowers

The earth is spread with clustering flowers :

Odours of nard and nectar sweet

E'en o'er the sands of Syrtes fleet.

All places rough and deserts wild
Have felt from far Thy coming, Child :
Rocks to Thy gentle empire bow
And verdure clothes the mountain brow.

Sweet honey from the boulder leaps :
The sere and leafless oak-bough weeps
A strange rich attar : tamarisks too
Of balsam pure distil the dew.

BlessM for ever, cradle dear.
The lowly stall, the cavern drear !
Men to this shrine, Etcrnnl King,
With dumb brutes adoration bring.
I

I30 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Adorat haec brutum pecus
indocta turba scilicet,
adorat excors natio,
vis cuius in pastu sita est.

Sed cum fideli spiritu 85

concurrat ad praesepia
pagana gens et quadrupes,
sapiatque quod brutum fuit :

Negat patrum prosapia
perosa praesentem Deum : 90

credas venenis ebriam
furiisve lymphatam rapi.

Quid prona per scelus ruis ?
agnosce, si quidquam tibi
mentis resedit integrae, 95

ducem tuorum principum.

Hunc, quem latebra et obstetrix,
et virgo feta, et cunulae
et inbecilla infantia
regem dederunt gentibus, 100

peccator intueberis
celsum coruscis nubibus,
deiectus ipse et inritus
plangens reatum fletibus :

Cum vasta signum bucina 105

terris cremandis miserit,
et scissus axis cardinem
mundi ruentis solveiit :

CATHEMERINON XI. 131

The ox and ass in homage low
Obedient to their Maker bow :
Bows too the unlearn'd heartless crowd
Whose minds the sensual feast doth cloud.

Though, by the faithful Spirit impelled,
Shepherds and brutes, unreasoning held,
Yea, folk that did in darkness dwell
Discern their God in His poor cell :

Yet children of the sacred race
Blindly abhor the Incarnate grace :
By philtres you might deem them lulled
Or by some bacchic phrenzy dulled.

Why headlong thus to ruin stride ?
If aught of soundness in you bide.
Behold in Him the Lord divine
Of all your patriarchal line.

Mark you the dim-lit cave, the Maid,
The humble nurse, the cradle laid,
The helpless infancy forlorn :
Yet thus the Gentiles' King was born !

Ah sinner, thou shalt one day see
This Child in dreadful majesty.
See Him in glorious clouds descend.
While thou thy guilty heart shalt rend.

Vain all thy tears, when loud shall sound
The trump, when flames shall scorch the

ground,
When from its hinge the cloven world
Is loosed, in horrid tumult liurlcd.

132 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Insignis ipse et praeminens
meritis lependet congrua, i lO

his lucis usum perpetis,
illis gehennam et tartarum.

ludaea tunc fulmen crucis
experta, qui sit, senties,
quern te furoris praesule 1 1 5

mors hausit et mox reddidit.

CATHEMERINON XI. 133

Then throned on high, the Judge of all
Shall mortals to their reckoning call :
To these shall grant the prize of light,
To those Gehenna's gloomy night.

Then, Israel, shalt thou learn. at length
The Cross hath, as the lightning, strength :
Doomed by thy wrath. He now is Lord,
Whom Death once grasped but soon restored.

XII. HYMNUS EPIPHANIAE

Quicumque Christum quaeritis,
oculos in altum tollite,
illic licebit visere
signum perennis gloriae.

Haec Stella, quae solis rotam 5

vincit decore ac lumine,
venisse terris nuntiat
cum carne terrestri Deum.

Non ilia servit noctibus
secuta lunam menstruam, 10

sed sola caelum possidens
cursum dierum temperat.

Arctoa quamvis sidera
in se retortis motibus
obire nolint, attamen 1 5

plerumque sub nimbis latent.

Hoc sidus aeternum manet,
haec Stella nunquam mergitur,
nee nubis occursu abdita
obumbrat obductam facem. 20

Tristis cometa intercidat,
at si quod astrum Sirio
fervet vapore, iam Dei
sub luce destructum cadat.
134

XII. HYMN FOR THE EPIPHANY

Lift up your eyes, whoe'er ye be
That fare the new-born Christ to see :
For yonder is the shining sign
Of grace perennial and divine.

What means this star, whose piercing rays
Outshine the sun's resplendent blaze ?
'Tis token sure that God is come
In mortal flesh to make His home.

No courtier of the realms of night
Nor monthly moon's bright acolyte.
This star directs the course of day,
Sole sovereign of the heavenly way.

Although the Bears their track retrace,
Nor wholly their clear beams efface,
Yet ofttimes 'neath the dun cloud's haze
They hide themselves from mortal gaze.

But yon Star's glory hath no end.
Nor to the depths can it descend :
It ne'er is whelmed by envious cloud
That seeks its beauty to enshroud.

Now let the baleful comet die.
The brood of blazing Sirius fly :
God's orb shall quench their sultry heats
And drive them from their haughty seats.
'35

136 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

En Persici ex orbis sinu, 25

80I unde sumit ianuam,
cernunt periti interpretes
regale vexillum Magi.

Quod ut refulsit, ceteri
cessere signorum globi, 30

nee pulcher est ausus suam
conferre formam Lucifer.

Quis iste tantus, inquiunt,
regnator astris inperans,
quem sic tremunt caelestia, 35

cui lux et aethra inserviunt.

Inlustre quiddam cernimus,
quod nesciat finem pati,
sublime, celsum, interminum,
antiquius caelo et chao. 40

Hie ille rex est gentium
populique rex ludaici,
promissus Abrahae patri
eiusque in aevum semini.

Aequanda nam stellis sua 45

cognovit olim germina
primus sator credentium,
nati inmolator uniei.

lam flos subit Davidicus
radiee lesse editus, 50

seeptrique per virgam rirens
rerum cacumen occupat.

,

CATHEMERINON XII. i37

Lo ! from the regions of the morn
Wherein the radiant sun is born,
The Persian sages see on high
God's ensign shining in the sky.

Soon as its rising beams prevail
The starry hosts in order pale :
E'en Lucifer durst not upraise
The silvery splendours of his face.

Who is this sovereign (they enquire)
That lords it o'er the ethereal choir ?
'Fore whom the heavens bow down afraid,
Of all the worlds of light obeyed ?

Sure 'tis the sign most reverend
Of Being that doth know no end :
Of One in state sublime arrayed
Ere sky and chaos yet were made.

This is the King of Israel,
Of all in Gentile lands that dwell :
The King to Abram and his seed
Throughout all ages erst decreed.

To him 'twas given his progeny
As stars innumerous to see :
First of believers ! moved to slay
His only son, so God to obey.

Behold the Flower of David shine,
Of Jesse's root the Branch benign :
The sceptre spread with blossoms rare
Wields o'er the world its lordship fair.

138 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Exin sequuntur perciti
fixis in altum vultibus,
qua Stella sulcum traxerat 55

claiamque signabat viam.

Sed verticem pueri supra
signum pependit inminens,
pronaque submissum face
caput sacratum prodidit. 60

Videre quod postquam Magi,
eoa promunt munera,
stratique votis ofFerunt
tus, myrrhani, et aurum regium.

Agnosce clara insignia 65

virtutis ac regni tui,
puer o, cui trinam Pater
praedestinavit indolem.

Regem Deumque adnuntiant
thesaurus et fragrans odor 70

turis Sabaei, ac myrrheus
pulvis sepulcrum praedocet.

Hoc est sepulcrum, quo Deus,
dum corpus extingui sinit
atque id sepultum suscitat, 75

mortis refregit carcerem.

O sola magnarum urbium
maior Bethlem, cui contigit
ducem salutis caelitus
incorporatum gignere. 80

CATHEMERINON XII. 139

Roused by the portent of the sky
The sages fix their gaze on high,
And speed them 'neath the furrowed way
Marked by the star's effulgent ray.

At length its flaming steps it stayed
Poised over where the Child was laid :
Straightway with downcast mien it shed
Its splendours on the sacred Head.

Whereat the travellers outpour
Of Eastern gifts their treasure-store,
Myrrh and sweet-smelling frankincense,
Gold meet for regal opulence.

Behold herein the triple sign
Of Thy pure being, King divine :
Seeing the Father willed in Thee
To plant a threefold majesty.

The gift of gold thee King proclaims :
Thee God the fragrant incense names :
The myrrh declares that Death shall thrust
Within the tomb Thy body's dust.

Ah ! that dark sepulchre, whose fold
God's body quenched in death doth hold :
Yet shall He from that durance wake
And Death's strong prison-fetters break.

O Bethlehem ! no longer thou
The least of cities : all shall vow
That thou art greatest on the earth :
For thou man's King didst bring to birth.

140 AUR PRUDENTII CLEM.

Altrice te summo Patri
haeres creatur unicus,
homo ex tonantis spiritu
idemque sub membris Deus,

Hunc et prophetis testibus 85

isdemque signatoribus,
testator et sator iubet
adire regnum et cernere :

Regnum, quod ambit omnia
diva et marina et terrea 90

a solis ortu ad exitum
et tartara et caelum supra.

Audit tyrannus anxius
adesse regum principem,
qui nomen Israel regat 95

teneatque David regiam.

Exclamat amens nuntio,
successor instat, pellimur ;
satelles i, ferrum rape,
perfunde cunas sanguine. 100

Mas omnis infans occidat,
scrutare nutricum sinus,
interque materna ubera
ensem cruentet pusio.

Suspecta per Bethlem mihi 105
puerperarum est omnium
fraus, ne qua furtim subtrahat
prolem virilis indolis.

CATHEMERINON XII. 141

Yea, thou didst on thy bosom bear
The All-loving Father's only heir :
Man of the Thunderer's Spirit made
And God in human flesh arrayed.

The prophets witnessed to the bond
Which sealed to Him the realm profound :
The Father's Kingdom He received
And the vast legacy perceived.

All things are His in sea and sky,
In hell beneath, in heaven on high :
From East to setting sun, in fee
He holds the earth's immensity.

Distraught, the tyrant base doth hear
That now the King of Kings draws near
To reign in David's seat of state
And Israel's empire dominate.

'* Betrayed are we," he maddened cries,
" Our throne's usurper doth arise :
Go, soldiers, go with sword in hand
And slay all babes within my land.

*' Spare no male child : each nurse's robe
Your scrutinizing steel must probe :
Spare not the suckling infant, though
O'er mother's breast its life-blood flow.

" On Bethlehem our suspicion falls.
On every hearth within its walls :
Lest mothers with love's tender zeal
Some manly scion may conceal."

142 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Transfigit ergo carnifex
mucrone destricto furens i lo

eftusa nuper corpora,
animasque rimatur novas.

Locum minutis artubus
vix interemptor invenit,
quo plaga descendat patens 1 1 5

iuguloque maior pugio est.

O barbarum spectaculum !
inlisa cervix cautibus
spargit cerebrum lacteum
oculosque per vulnus vomit. i 20

Aut in profundum palpitans
mersatur infans gurgitem,
cui subter artis faucibus
singultat unda et halitus.

Salvete flores martyrum, 125

quos lucis ipso in limine
Christi insecutor sustulit,
ceu turbo nascentes rosas.

Vos prima Christi victima,
grex inmolatorum tener, 130

aram ante ipsam simplices
palma et coronis luditis.

Quid proficit tantum nefas,
quid crimen Herodem iuvat ?
unus tot inter funera
inpune Christus tollitur.

135

CATHEMERINON XII. 143

With daggers drawn the infuriate crew
Upon their murderous errand flew :
Each latest offspring of the womb
To bloody death they foully doom.

Ah tiny limbs ! 'twas hard to know
How best to strike the fatal blow :
Too wide the sword-blades are to smite
Those throats so silken-fragile, slight.

O horrid sight ! the tender bones
Are dashed against the jagged stones :
Sightless and mangled there they lie,
Poor babes ! untimely doomed to die.

Perchance the still deep river laves
Their bodies thrust into the waves :
The current with their sighing sighs,
Sobs with their latest, broken cries.

Ye flowers of martyrdom, all hail !
Of rising morn pure blossoms frail !
By Jesu's foe were ye downcast,
Like budding roses by the blast.

Lambs of the flock too early slain,
Ye first fruits of Christ's bitter pain !
Close to His very altar, gay
With palms and crowns, ye now do play.

Of what avail is deed so vile ?
Doth Herod gain by murderous guile ?
Of all to death so foully done
Escapes triumphant Christ alone.

144 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Inter coaevi sanguinis
fluenta solus integer
ferrum, quod orbabat nurus,
partus fefellit virginis. 1 40

Sic stulta Pharaonis mali
edicta quondam fugerat
Christi figuram praeferens
Moyses, receptor civium.

Cautum et statutum ius erat, 1 4 5
quo non liceret matribus,
cum pondus alvi absolverent,
puerile pignus toliere.

Mens obstetricis sedulae
pie in tyrannuni contumax 150

ad spem potentis gloriae
furata servat parvulum :

Quern mox sacerdotem sibi
adsumpsit orbis conditor,
per quern notatam saxeis i 5 5

legem tabellis traderet.

Licetne Christum noscere
tanti per exemplum viri ?
dux ille caeso Aegyptio
absolvit Israel iugo. 160

At nos subactos iugiter
erroris inperio gravi
dux noster hoste saucio
mortis tenebris liberal.

CATHEMERINON XH. 145

Amidst that tide of infant gore
Alone He wins the sheltering shore :
The virgin's Child survives the stroke,
When every mother's heart was broke.

Thus Moses 'scaped the mad decree
Of evil Pharaoh and set free
The flock of God, prefiguring so
Christ spared from fate's malignant blow.

Vain too the king's hostility
Who framed the pitiless decree
That Israel's mothers should not rear
To manhood's strength their offspring dear.

Quickened by love, a woman's mind
Found means to thwart that law unkind,
And, falsely true, the child concealed
Destined to be his people's Shield.

On him it was that God did place
The august priesthood's holy grace,
The law on stony tablets writ
Did to his trembling hands commit.

And may we not with prophet's eye
In such a hero Christ descry ?
The proud Egyptian's might he broke
And freed his kinsmen from the yoke.

So we by Error's might hemmed round
Were by our Captain's strength unbound:
His foe He wounded in the fight
And saved us from Death's horrid night.

146 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Hie L'xpiatani lluctibus 165

)ilcbcni maiino in transitu
repurgat undis dulcibus,
lucis columnam piaeferens :

Hie praeliante exercitu,
pansis in altum brachiis, 170

subliniis Anialech preniit,
crucis quod instar tunc fuit.

Hie nenipe lesus verior,
qui longa post dispendia
victor suis tribulibus 1 7 5

promissa solvit iugera.

Qui ter quaternas denique
refluentis aninis alveo
f undavit et fixit petras,
apostolorum stemmata. 180

lure ergo se ludae ducem
vidisse testantur Magi,
cum facta priscorum ducum
Christi figuram finxerint.

Hie rex prioruni iudicum, 185

rexere qui lacob genus,
doniinaeque rex ecclesiae,
templi et novelli et pristini.

Hunc posteri Efrcni cokint,
hunc sancta Manasse donius 190

omnesque suspiciunt tribus
bis sena fratrum semina.

CATHEMERINON XII. 147

Cheering by sign of flame their feet,

Moses renewed with waters sweet

His folk, albeit purified

From stain, what time they crossed the tide.

And he, remote on peaceful height,
Amalek's banded hosts did smite :
He prayed with arms stretched out above,
Foreshadowing the Cross of Love.

Yet truer Jesus surely he,

Who after many a victory

And labours long the tribes' renown

With promised heritage did crown ;

Who when the waters rose on high
And now the Jordan's bed was dry.
Set up twelve stones of memory.
Types of apostles yet to be.

Rightly the Wise Men said, I ween.
That they Judaea's King had seen,
Since noble deeds of other days
Prophetic chant the Saviour's praise.

Of those old rulers He is King
Who did to Jacob judgment bring,
King of the Mother Church divine,
God's ancient and God's present Shrine.

Of Ephraim's sons He is adored :
Manasseh's sacred house as Lord
Reveres Him : to His might the seed
Of brethren twelve their fealty plead.

148 AUR. PRUDENTII CLEM.

Quin et propago degener
rituni secuta inconditum,
quaccumquc dirum fervidis 195

Baal caminis coxerat,

fumosa avorum numina
saxuni, mctallum, stipitem,
rasum, dolatum, sectile,
in Christi honorem deserit. 200

Gaudete quidquid gentium est,
ludaea, Roma, et Graecia,
Aegypte, Thrax, Persa, Scytha,
rex unus omnes possidet.

Laudate vestrum principem 205

omnes beati, ac perditi,
vivi, inbecilli ac mortui :
iam nemo posthac mortuus.

CATHEMERINON XII. 149

Nay, each degenerate race hath fled
Its shameful rites and orgies dread :
Grim Baal in glowing furnace cast
Sinks to the earth, forsook at last.

Idols smoke-blackened, wooden-hewn,
Of brass and stone, in dust are strewn :
The chiselled deities downtrod :
For all confess in Christ their God.

Rejoice all peoples, Jewry, Rome,
Fair Hellas, Thrace, Aegyptus' home :
Persians and Scythian land forlorn.
Rejoice : the world's great King is born !

Behold your Chief I His praise forth tell :
Ye sick, ye hale, all heaven and hell :
Ay, you whose vital spark hath sped :
For lo ! in Him e'en Death is dead.

EPILOGUS

Inmolat Deo Patri

pius, fidelis, innocens, pudicus
dona conscientiae,

quibus beata mens abundat intus :
alter et pecuniam 5

recidit, unde victitent egeni.
Nos citos iambicos

sacramus et rotatiles trochaeos,
sanctitatis indigi

nee ad levamen pauperum potentes ; 10
adprobat tamen Deus

pedestre carmen, et benignus audit.
Multa divitis domo

sita est per omnes angulos supellex.
Fulget aureus scyphus, 1 5

nee acre defit expolita pelvis :
est et olla fietilis,

gravisque et ampla argentea est parabsis.
Sunt eburna quaepiam,

nonnulla quercu sunt cavata et ulmo : 20
omne vas fit utile,

quod est ad usum congruens herilem,
Instruunt enim domum

ut empta magno, sie parata ligno.
150

EPILOGUE

The pure and faithful saint, whose heart is
whole,

To God the Father makes his sacrifice
From out the treasures of a stainless soul.

Glad gifts of innocence, beyond all price :
Another with free hand bestows his gold,

Whereby his needy neighbour may be fed.
No wealth of holiness my heart doth hold,

No store have I to buy my brothers bread :
So here I humbly dedicate to Thee

The rolling trochee and iambus swift ;
Thou wilt approve my simple minstrelsy,

Thine ear will listen to Thy servant's gift.
The rich man's halls are nobly furnished ;

Therein no nook or corner empty seems ;
Here stands the brazen laver burnished,

And there the golden goblet brightly gleams ;
Hard by some crock of clumsy earthen ware,

Massive and ample lies a silver plate ;
And rough-hewn cups of oak or elm are there

With vases carved of ivory delicate.
Yet every vessel in its place is good,

So be it for the Master's service meet ;
The priceless salver and the bowl of wood

Alike He needs to make His home complete.
'5'

152 EPILOGUS

Me paterno in atrio 25

ut obsoletum vasculum caducis
Christus aptat usibus,

sinitque parte in anguli manere.
Munus ecce fictile

inimus intra regiam salutis ; 30

attamen vel inliniam

Deo obsequelam praestitisse prodest.
Quidquid illud accidit,

iuvabit ore personasse Christum.

EPILOGUE 153

Therefore within His Father's spacious hall

Christ fits me for the service of a day,
Mean though I be, a vessel poor and small, —

And in some lowly corner lets me stay.
Lo in the palace of the King of Kings

I play the earthen pitcher's humble part ;
Yet to have done Him meanest service brings

A thrill of rapture to my thankful heart :
Whate'er the end, this thought will joy afford,

My lips have sung the praises of my Lord.

This edition of the Cathemerinon of Prudentius has
been prepared for the Temple Classics by Rev. R.
Martin Pope, M.A. {St John's College^ Cambridge,
translator of the "Letters of John Hus"), nuho has
done the translation of the Praefatio and Hymns i., ii. ,
iii., viii., xi., xii., ivith notes thereon and the note on
PruHcntius. For the rendering of Hymns iv., v., vi.,
vii., ix., X., and the Epilogus lu'uh notes thereon, Mr
R. F. Davis, M.A. {St John's College, Cambridge), is
responsible. The text, ivith some minor alterations in
orthography and punctuation, is that o/"Dressel (Lipsiae,
i860). The frontispiece is due to the kind suggestion oj
Dr Sandys, Public Orator of Cambridge University, to
whom the thanks of the translators are hereby presented.

TRANSLATOR'S NOTE

AuRELius Prudentius Clemens (to give his
full title) was born, probably at Saragossa
(Caesaraugusta), in Spain, in the year of our
Lord 348. The fourth century exercised a
profound influence alike on the destiny of the
Roman Empire and of the Christian Church.
After a long discipline, strangely alternating
between fiery persecution and contemptuous
toleration, the Church entered upon a new
era, when in 323 Constantine, the first
Christian emperor, became master of the
Roman world. Two years later the Council
of Nicaea met to utter its verdict on the
Arian controversy and to establish the terms
of the orthodox symbol. A generation later
Julian took up the reins of empire and
commenced his quixotic and fruitless attempt
to revive the glories of Paganism. Athanasius
died in 373 : but fourteen years later Augus-
tine, his successor in the championship of the
faith, was baptized, and in 395, at the death
of Theodosius, when the Empire was divided
between Honorius and Arcadius, he became
Bishop of Hippo, and was marked out by his
saintliness and learning as the leader of the

155

156 PRUDENTIUS

Western Church, which he shaped by his
splendid ideal of the Civitas Dei into unity and
stability, when the secular empire was falling
into decay.

We know little more of the life of
Prudentius than he himself has disclosed.
The Preface, which stands as an introduction
to his poems, is a miniature autobiography of
great interest. M. Boissier in his Fin du
Paganisme calls it melancolique : though it is
rather the retrospect of a serious and
awakened, but not morbid, conscience.
Prudentius views his past years in the light
of that new spiritual truth to which he has
opened his soul. We gather that he received
a liberal education and was called to the bar.
We need not misunderstand the allusion to
the deceitfulness of the barrister life, seeing
that the ordinary arts of rhetoric stand con-
demned by his recently adopted ethical
standard. He held two important judicial
posts and was promoted to a high position,
probably in the civil service and not outside
the limits of his native province, the provincia
Tarraconensis.

He speaks of himself as having reached the
age of fifty-seven, which brings us down to
405, and as intending to consecrate his
remaining years to the poetic treatment of
religious subjects. When and how he
became a Christian we do not know, and it

TRANSLATOR'S NOTE 157

were vain to guess, although the suggestion
that he may have owed his conversion to the
influence of some Christian family of his
acquaintance is at least interesting'. It is
unlikely that he took up poetry for the first
time in his old age. His mastery of all
kinds of metre — heroic and lyric — prove the
practised hand. The probability is that in
the years of repose after a busy career his
desire to redeem an unspiritual past suggested
for the exercise of his natural o-ifts a field

1 • • •

hitnerto unoccupied by any of the writers of
his age. Why not consecrate his powers to
the task of interesting the literary circles of
the Empire in the evangel of Christ ? Why
not present the truths of Christianity in
a poetic guise, wrought into forms of beauty
and set forth in the classical metres of
Roman literature ? This became the
passion of his life, and however we may view
the results of his toil, the spirit in which he
went to work, as described in the touching
Epilogue^ cannot but evoke our profound
admiration. He is but a vessel of earth, but
whatever the issue may be, it will be a last-
ing joy to have sounded forth the praise of
Christ in song.

This then is how Prudentius becomes the
first poet of the Christian Church, or, as
Hentley called him, " the Virgil and Horace
of the Christians." Doubtless there were

IS8 PRUDENTIUS

other influences at work to determine the
sphere to which he was naturally attracted.
Ambrose, who was Bishop of Milan when
Prudentius was twenty-six years of age, had
written the first Latin hymns to be sung in
church. Augustine in a familiar passage of
the Confessions (ix. 7.) describes how "the
custom arose of singing hymns and psalms,
after the use of the Eastern provinces, to
save the people from being utterly worn out
by their long and sorrowful vigils." " From
that day to this," he adds, "it has been
retained and, many might say, all Thy flocks
throughout the rest of the world now
follow our example." To Ambrose and
Augustine the Church of Christ is for ever
indebted : to the latter for a devotional
treatise which is the most familiar of all
the writings of the fourth century : to the
former for the hymns of praise which he
composed and the practice of singing which
he thus inaugurated in the worship of the
Western Church. But the Church owes
something also to Prudentius, a much more
gifted poet than Ambrose. The collection
of hymns known as the Cathemerinon or
Hymns for the day is as little adapted for
ecclesiastical worship as Keble's Christian
Tear^ although excerpts from these poems
have passed into the hymnology of the
Church, just as portions of Keble's work

TRANSLATOR'S NOTE 159

have passed into most hymn books. For
exatnple, seven of these excerpts in the
form of hymns are to be found in the Roman
Breviary, and thus for centuries the lyrics of
Prudentius have been sung in the daily
services of the Church.

Seeing that Prudentius must address him-
self to most English readers through the
imperfect medium of a translation, it may be
well to remind those who make their first
acquaintance with him that a historical
imagination is an indispensable condition of
interest and sympathy. If Prudentius has a
habit of leaving the main issue and making
lengthy and tedious detours into the pictur-
esque parables and miraculous incidents of
the Old Testament, there is method in
his digressiveness. He knows that one of
the charms of Paganism lies in its rich and
variegated mythology. Yet Christianity also
can point to an even nobler inheritance of
the supernatural and the wonderful in the
mysterious evolutions of its history. Hence
the stories of the early patriarchs, of the
Israelites and Moses, of Daniel and Jonah,
are imported by the poet as pictorial illustra-
tions of his theme. If occasionally the
details border on the grotesque, he certainly
reveals a striking knowledge of the Old
Testament.

The New lestament is also adequately

l6o PRUDENTIUS

represented. In one poem (ix.) the miracles
of Christ in His earthly ministry and His
descent into Hades are narrated with con-
siderable spirit and eloquence. Besides
being a student of the Bible, Prudentius is a
theologian. His theology is that of the
Nicene Creed. The Fall of man, the
personality of the Tempter, the mystery of
the Trinity and of the Incarnation, the
Virgin-birth, the Death and Resurrection of
Christ, the pains of the lost and the bliss of
the saints, the resurrection of the Body and
the life everlasting — these are the themes of
his pen, the themes too of the theology of
his age. If the poet's treatment of these
truths occasionally appears antiquated and
crude to modern ideas, it is at least dignified
and intelligent. His mind has absorbed the
Christian religion and the Christian theology,
and he not unfrequently rises to noble
heights in the interpretation of their
mysteries. His didactic poems, the Hamarti-
genia or the Origin of Evil and the apotheosis,
a treatise on the Person of Christ, prove
him to be a theologian of no mean calibre.
He is also an alle<2orist, as is proved by the
Psychomachia or the Battle of the Sou/, a kind
of Holy War vv^hich was very popular in the
Middle Ages. He is a martyrologist : as
witness the Peristephanon, a series of poems
on Christian, principally Spanish, martyrs.

TRANSLATOR'S NOTE i6i

Moreover, he is an undoubted patriot, and in
the Contra Svmmachum^ which he wrote on
the famous affair of the Altar of Victory, he
proves that, while a Christian, he is also civis
Romanus^ loyal to the Empire and the powers
that be. He is a skilful versifier, and in this
connection the quatrains of the Dittochaeon^
verses on themes of the Old and New
Testaments, may be mentioned in order to
complete the list of his works. His mastery
of his very varied metres — hexameter, iambic,
trochaic and sapphic — is undoubted : every-
where we note the influence of Virgil and
Horace, even when these poets are not
recalled bv echoes of their diction which are
constantlv greeting the reader of his poems.

Reference has already been made to the
influence of Ambrose of Milan upon the
thought and stvle of Prudentius. But there
is a second and even more powerful influence
that deserves at least briefly to be noted —
namelv, the Christian art of the Catacombs.
Apart from such definite statements as e.g.
are found in Peristephanon xi., it is obvious
that Prudentius had a first-hand knowledge
of Rome and particularly of the Catacombs.
Everywhere in his poems we find evidences
of the deep impression made upon his
imagination by the paintings and sculptures
of subterranean Rome. The now familiar
representations which decorate the remains

L

i62 PRUDENTIUS

of the Catacombs suggested to him many of
the allusions, the picturesque vignettes and
glowing descriptions to be found in his
poetry. Thus, the story of Jonah — a
common theme typifying the Resurrection
— the story of Daniel with its obvious con-
solations for an age of martyrs, the Good
Shepherd and the denial of Peter may be
mentioned among the numerous subjects
which were reproduced in early Christian
art and transferred by the poet to his verse.
The symbolism of the Cock, the Dove, and
the Lamb borne on the shoulders of the Good
Shepherd is a perpetually recurring feature in
the lyrics and martyr-hymns of Prudentius,
who thus becomes one of our most valuable
authorities on the Christian art of the fourth
century.

The poems, of which a new English
rendering is presented in this volume, are
acknowledged by most critics to illustrate
some of his best qualities, his brightness and
dignity, his touches of nature-painting and
his capacity for sustained and well-wrought
narrative. As we study these lyrics of the
early Church, we feel anew the mighty
change that Christianity wrought in Roman
life by its doctrine of immortality, and we
note the curious fascination which the
circumstances of the Nativity and especially
the Adoration of the Magi had for the

TRANSLATOR'S NOTE 163

Western world. Prudentius had a great
vogue in the Middle Ages, and the modern
renewal of interest in mediaevalism invests
with fresh dignity a poet whose works at
the Revival of learning provoked the admira-
tion of Erasmus ^ and the researches of
numerous scholars and editors. But it is
undoubtedly to the student of ecclesiastical
history and dogma and to the lovers of
Christian art and antiquities that Prudentius
most truly appeals. He claims our interest,
not merely because he reflects the Christian
environment of his days, but because his
poetry represents an attempt to preach
Christ to a world still fascinated by
Paganism, while conscious that the old
order was changing and yielding place to
new.

' Prudent ium, unum inter Christianos vere facundum poetam.

NOTES

HYMNS

The Title

The word Cathemerinon is taken from the
Greek and is the genitive of }(.adrjfiipivd " daily
things " : the whole title Liber Cathemerinon
is equivalent to " Book of daily hymns," and
may be rendered " Hymns for the Christian's
day."

The Preface

In one or two of the MSS. this intro-
ductory poem is stated to be a preface of the
Cathemerinon only : but the great majority of
the codices support the view which is un-
doubtedly suggested by internal evidence,
that the poem is a general introduction to
the whole of Prudentius' works. It is in-
serted together with the Epilogus in this
volume, because of the intrinsic interest of
both poems.

Link

8 The reference is to the toga virilis, the
ordinary white-coloured garb of a
164

NOTES 165

Line

Roman citizen who at his sixteenth
year laid aside the purple-edged toga
praetextUy which was worn during the
days of boyhood.
16 fF. The cities referred to are unknown :
but it is probable that they were two
municipia in Northern Spain, and that
the office held by Prudentius was that
of duumvir or prefect. Provision was
made by the twenty-fourth clause of
the law of Salpensa (a town in the
provincia Baetica of Spain) by which
the emperor could be elected first
magistrate of a /numcipium, and could
thereupon appoint a prefect to take
his place. This would explain the
language of the text as to the semi-
imperial nature of the post. The
phrase militiae gradus need only be
taken to indicate advancement in the
civil service. But the words have
been interpreted in accordance with
the more familiar and definite mean-
ing of militia^ and understood to refer
to a purely military post. Dressel
thinks that Prudentius was a mi/es
Palatinus^ that is, a member of the
best-paid and most highly-privileged
imperial troops, who furnished officers
for some of the most lucrative posts
in the provinces. Though in the

i66 PRUDENTIUS

Line

translation the usual meaning has
been given to militia^ it must be
regarded as uncertain in the absence
of more definite information regard-
ing the office held by Prudentius.
24 The consulship of Salia (or Salias) belongs
to the year 348, the date of the birth
of Prudentius. An inscription (quoted
by Migne from Muratorius, Nov. Thes.
Inscrip.^ i. 379) has been found in the
monastery of St. Paul's outside the
city bearing the words

FILIPPO • ET • SALLIA • COSS

1 Of this poem lines 1-8, 81-84, 97-^oo,

were included in the Roman Breviary
as a hymn to be sung at Lauds, on
Tuesday.

2 The allusions to the cock in this and the

following poem (ii. 37-55) were doubt-
less inspired by the lines of Ambrose
in his morning hymn beginning
Aeterne rerum conditor. Cf. 11. 5-8 and
16-24 •

*'■ praeco die'i tarn son/7 1
noctis profundae pervlgil^
nocturnn lux viantibus
a node noctem segregans.

NOTES 167

iurgamus ergo strenue :
gallus iacentes excitat^
et somnolentos increpat :
gallus negantes argu'it.

gallo canente spes reditu
aegris salus refunditur,
mucro Iiitror.'is conditur,
lapsis fides revertitur."

Translation.

" Dawn's herald now begins to cry,
Lone watcher of the nightly sky :
Light of the dark to pilgrims dear.
Speeding successive midnights drear.

• • • •

Brisk from our couch let us arise !
Hark to the cock's arousing cries !
He chides the sluggard's slumbrous

ease,
And shames his unconvincing pleas.

At cock-crow Hope revives again,
Health banishes the stress of pain.
Sheathed is the nightly robber's sword,
And Faith to fallen hearts restored."

See also Ambrose, Hexaem.^ v. 24, for
an eloquent passage in the same strain.
The cock was the familiar Christian
symbol of early rising or vigilance,
and numerous representations of it
are found in the Catacombs. Cf.

i68 PRUDENTIUS

LiNB

the painting from the Catacomb of
St. Priscilla reproduced in Bottari's
folio of 1754, where the Good Shep-
herd is depicted as feeding the lambs,
with a crowing cock on His right
and left hand. It is also a symbol
of the Resurrection, our Lord being
supposed to have risen from the
grave at the early cockcrowing : see
1. 65 et seq. In 1. 16 the first bird-
notes are interpreted by the poet as a
summons to the general judgment.
Cf. Mark xiii. 35 : *' Ye know not
when the lord of the house cometh,
whether at even, or at midnight, or
at cockcrowing^ or in the morning."
This passage serves as a kind of text
for Prudentius' first two hymns,
and perhaps explains why he has
one for cockcrowing and another for
morning.

26 A common idea in all literatures. Cf.
Virg., Aen.^ vi. 278 (taken from
Homer), turn consanguineus Lett Sopor,
and Tennyson's " Sleep, Death's twin-
brother" (/« Memoriam^ 68).

44 Cf. Augustine, Serm. 103 : "These evil
spirits seek to seduce the soul : but
when the sun has arisen, they take to
flight."

59 The denial of Peter forms a subject of

NOTES 169

Line

Christian casuistry in patristic litera-
ture, and this passage recalls the
famous classical parallel in Euripides
(////)/). 612), " the tongue hath sworn :
yet unsworn is the heart." Cf.
Augustine, cont. mendacium : "In that
denial he held fast the truth in his
heart, while with his lips he uttered
falsehood." For a striking representa-
tion of Peter and the cock, on a
sarcophagus discovered in the Cata-
combs and now deposited in the
Vatican library, see Maitland's Church
in the Catacombs, p. 347. The closing
words of the passage in Ambrose's
Hexaemeron, already referred to under
1. 2, may here be quoted : "As the
cock peals forth his notes, the robber
leaves his plots : Lucifer himself
awakes and lights up the sky : the
distressful sailor lays aside his gloom,
and all the storms and tempests that
hare risen in fury under the winds of
the evening begin to die down : the
soul of the saint leaps to prayer and
renews the study of the written word :
and finally, the very Rock of the
Church is cleansed of the stain he
had contracted by his denials before
rhe cock crew."
81 ff. The best commentary on these words

I70 PRUDENTIUS

Line

is to be found in the following passage
from the second epistle of Basil to
Gregory Nazianzen : " What can be
more blessed than to imitate on earth
the angelic host by giving oneself at
the peep of dawn to prayer and by
turning at sunrise to work with
hymns and songs: yea, all the day
through to make prayer the accom-
paniment of our toils and to season
them with praise as with salt ? For
the solace of hvmns changes the soul's
sadness into mirth."

II

I This poem furnishes two hymns to the
Roman Breviary, one to be sung on
Wednesday at Lauds, and consisting
of 11. 1-8, 48-53 (omitting 1. 50), 57,
59, 60, 67 (^tu vera lux caelestium) and
68 : the other for Thursday at Lauds,
consisting of 11. 25 {lux ecce sur-
git aurea)y 93-108.

1 7 Cf. Ambrose, ii. 8, de Cain et Abel : " The
thief shuns the day as the witness of
his crime : the adulterer is abashed
by the dawn as the accomplice of his
adultery."

51 The practice of praying on bended knees

NOTES 171

Line

is frequently referred to in early
Christian writers. Cf. Clem., I Ad.
Cor.cc.xlviii. : " Let usfall down before
the Lord," and Shepherd of Hernias,
vis. I. i. : " After I had crossed that
river I came unto the banks and
there knelt down and began to pray."
Dressel quotes from Juvencus (iv.
648), a Spanish poet and Christian
contemporary of Prudentius, genibus
nixi regern dominumque salutant^ " on
bended knees they make obeisance
unto their King and Lord."

63 The Jordan is a poetical figure for
baptism, suggested doubtless by the
baptism of our Lord in that river.
Cf. vii. 73-75.

67 Cf. Milton, Paradise Regained^ i. 293 :
" So spake our Morning Star, then in
his rise." The fieure is suggested by
Rev. xxii. 16 : " I am . . . the bright,
the morning star."

105 The conception of God as speculator
may be paralleled by a passage in the
epistle of Polycarp ad Philipp. \v,
where God is described as the Arch-
critic (craira iiuiJ.oex.o'xiTrai) and sub-
sequently (vii.) as rh vavTim'Trrriv 6i6v,
" the All-witnessing God." The last
verse contains a distinct echo of the
closing words of the fourth chapter of

172 PRUDENTIUS

Line

Polycarp : *' None of the reasonings
or thoughts, nor any of the hidden
things of the heart escape His notice."

Ill

2 JVord-begot. The original verhigena^ on
the analogy of such words (cf. terrigena^
Martigena^ ^tc), can only mean " be-
gotten of the Word." It is evident,
therefore, the "Word" in this con-
nection is not the Johannine Logos
or Second Person in the Trinity.
Prudentius cannot be guilty of the
error which he expressly condemns
[Apoth. 249) as perquam ridiculum
and regard the Logos as begetting
Himself, Consequently, both in this
passage and in xi. 18 [verbo editus)
the " Word " must be taken as
approximating rather to the Alex-
andrian conception of the Logos as
the Divine Reason. In this way
Christ is expressly described as the
offspring of the Intellectus Dei^ the
immanent Intelligence of the Deity.
If this conception is considered to be
beyond Prudentius, we can only sup-
pose that both here and in xi. 18, his
language is theologically loose. Some

NOTES 173

Line . ,

excuse may be offered for this on the
ground that the Latin language is ill-
adapted for expressing metaphysical
truths. The late Bishop Westcott
remarked on the inadequacy of the
Latin original of " the Word was made
flesh " {verhu7n caro factum est\ both
substantive and verb falling short of
the richness of their Greek equi-
valents. {Vid. also note on iv. 15.)
1 1 Cf. Ambrose, Hymn vii. : —

" Chnstusque nobis sit cibus
Potusque noster sit Jides ;
Laeti libamus sobriam
Ebrietatem Spiritus."

Translation.

" May Christ be now the Bread we eat,
Be simple Faith our potion sweet :
Let our intoxication be
The Spirit's calm sobriety."

The idea is familiar to readers of
Herbert and Herrick, though it is
elaborated by them with quaint con-
ceits somewhat foreign to the Latin
poet. Cf. Herbert, Vie Banquet : —

" O what sweetnesse from the bowl
Fills my soul !

174 PRUDENTIUS

Line

Is some starrc (fled from the sphere)

Melted there,
As we sugar melt in wine ?

• »•#•••

Doubtless neither starre nor flower
Hath the power

Such a sweetnesse to impart :

Only God, Who gives perfumes.
Flesh assumes.

And with it perfumed my heart."

Also Herrick, A Thanksgiving to God: —

" Lord, I confess too, when I dine,
The pulse is thine.

• ••••••

'Tis thou that crown'st my glittering
hearth

With guiltless mirth,
And giv'st me wassail bowls to drink,
Spiced to the brink."

28 The original dactylico refers to the metre
of the Latin of this poem. For a
rendering of II. 1-65 in the metre of
the original see Glover, Life and
Letters in the Fourth Century., pp. 267-
269.

58 This and the following lines should satisfy
the most ardent vegetarian who seeks
to uphold his abstinence from animal
food by the customs of the early
Church. In Christian circles, how-

NOTES 175

Line

ever, the abstinence was practised on
personal and spiritual grounds, e.g.^
Jerome {de Regul. Monach.^ xi.) says,
*'The eating of flesh is the seed-plot
of lust " {seminariutn libidinis) : so also
Augustine (demoribus Ecc. Cath.^\. 33),
who supports what doubtless was the
view of Prudentius, namely that the
avoidance of animal flesh was a safe-
guard but not a binding Christian
duty.
75 Unwed. Prudentius thus adopts the
view of the ancient world on the
question of the generation of bees.
Cf. Virgil, Geo. iv. 198, and Pliny,
Nat. Hist., xi. 16. Dryden's transla-
tion of Virgil (I.e.) is as follows : —

" But (what's more strange) their modest

appetites,
Averse from Venus, fly the nuptial

rights ;
No lust enervates their heroic mind,
Nor wastes their strength on wanton

womankind,
But in their mouths reside their genial

powers,
They gather children from the leaves

and flowers."

86 Cf. Ps. liv. 18, 19 (Vulg.): ^espere et

176 PRUDENTIUS

Line

mane et meridie narrabo et annunt'iaho et
exaudiet vocem meam. "In the evening
and morning and at noonday will I
pray, and that instantly, and he shall
hear my voice" (P. B. Version).

127 This is, strictly speaking, an error: it is
the woman's seed which is to bruise
the serpent's head. The error was
perpetuated in the Latin Church by
the Vulgate of Gen. iii. 15, ipsa conteret
caput tuum^ where ipsa refers to the
woman ( = she herself).

157 Tiie epithet "white-robed" refers to
the newly-baptized converts who re-
ceived the white robe as a symbol of
their new nature. Cf. Perist, i. 67 :
Christus illic candidatis praesidet cohorti-
bus, and Ambrose (de Mysteriisy vii.) :
"Thou didst receive (that is, after
baptism) white garments as a sign
that thou hast doiFed the covering of
thy sins and put on the chaste raiment
(ve/afniria) of innocence, whereof the
prophet spake (Ps. li. 7), 'Thou shalt
purge me with hyssop, and I shall be
clean : thou shalt wash me, and I
shall be whiter than snow ' " (Vulg.).

199 Phlegethon (rendered "Hell"), one of
the rivers of the Virgilian Hades, is used
to express the abode of the lost. Cf.
Milton, P. L., ii. 580 : —

NOTES 177

"... fierce Phlegethon,
Whose waves of torrent fire inflame with
rage."

The subject of the descensus ad inferos
was evidentlv a favourite one with Pru-
dentius and his contemporaries. It
has been suggested that apart from
the scriptural basis of this conception
Prudentius was influenced bv the so-
called Gospel of Nicodemus^ which em-
bodies two books, the Acts of Pilate
and the Descent into Hell. The latter
is assigned by several critics to 400
or thereabouts, and gives a graphic
account of Christ's doings in Hades.
Synesius deals with the subject in one
of his hymns (ix.), and Mrs Brown-
ing's translation (see the essay on
The Greek Christian Poets^ of a passage
in that poem may be quoted : —

" Down Thou earnest, low as earth,
Bound to those of mortal birth ;
Down Thou earnest, low as hell,
Where Shephcrd-Dcath did tend and

keep
A thousand nations like to sheep.
While weak with age old Hades fell
Shivering through his dark to view Thee.

M

178 PRUDENTIUS

Link

So, redeeming from their pain

Chains of disembodied ones,

Thou didst lead whom thou didst

gather
Upward in ascent again,
With a great hymn to the Father,
Upward to the pure white thrones ! "

For a modern treatment of the theme
see Christ in Hades^ by Stephen Phillips.

202 The words suggest the Catacombs, and
perhaps refer to the custom of
placing in the tomb a small cup or
vase containing spices, of which myrrh
(a symbol of death, according to
Gregory of Nyssa, cf. xii. 71) was
most usually employed. Or the
allusion may be to the practice of
embalming. (See note on x. 51.)
The body was placed not only in
an actual sarcophagus or stone coffin,
as expressly mentioned in the text,
but in hollow places cut out of rock
or earth (/ocu/us). The sarcophagus
method seems to have been the earlier,
but was superseded by that of the
loculus^ except in the case of the very
wealthy.

205 The concluding line is beautifully illus-
trated by the epitaph on the martyr
Alexander, found over one of the

Line

NOTES 179

graves in the cemetery of Callixtus in
the Catacombs : —

ALEXANDER MORTVVS NON EST SED

VIVIT
SVPER ASTRA ET CORPVS IN HOC

TVMVLO
2VIESCIT . . .

"Alexander is not dead, but lives above the stars
and his body rests in this tomb."

IV

Prudentius here, as again in v. 160,
emphasises his belief in the procession
of the Holy Ghost from the Father
and the Son. The "filioque" clause
was not actually added to the Nicene
Creed till the Council of Toledo
(589 A.D.), but the doctrine was
expressly maintained by Augustine,
and occurs in a Confession of Faith
of an earlier Synod of Toledo (447
A.D. ?), and in the words of Leo 1.
{Ep. ad Turib,, c. i), ^^ de utroque pro-
cessit." The addition was not em-
bodied into the Creed as used at
Rome as late as the beginning of
the ninth century. {f^id. Harnack,
Hist, of DogTua^ iv. 132.) Pru-
dentius probably followed, as regards
the Trinity, the doctrine generally

i8o PRUDENTIUS

Line

held by the Spanish Church of his
day; in many points it is difficult
(cf. note on iii. 2), but appears to be
derived partly from TertuUian and
partly from Marcellus.
59 The identification of the Habakkuk of
this legend [vicl. the Apocryphal
"Bel and the Dragon" with the
O. T. prophet is erroneous. This
version of the story of Daniel is
sometimes represented in the frescoes
of the Catacombs, where the subject
is a very favourite one, as is natural
in an age when the cry " Christiani
ad leones" so often rang through the
streets of Rome.

I. There has been much doubt as to the title
and scope of this hymn. Some early
editors [cg.^ Fabricius and Arevalus)
adopt the title " ad incensum cerei Pas-
chalis" or ^^de novo lumine Paschalis
Sabbati" and confine its object to
the ceremonial of Easter Eve, which
is specially alluded to in 11. 125 et
seq. Others, following the best MSS.,
give the simpler title used in this text,
and regard it as a hymn for daily use.

NOTES i8i

This view is supported by the weight
of evidence : the position of the hymn
among the first six (none of which
are for special days), and the fact that
the Benediction of the Paschal Candle
was not in use, at any rate in Rome,
in the pontificate of Zacharias {ob.
752 A.D.) point in this direction.
In the Spanish Church particularly
the very ancient custom of praying at
the hour when the evening lamps were
lighted had developed into the regular
office of the lucernarium^ as distinct
from Vespers. The Mozarabic Brevi-
ary (seventh century) contains the
prayers and responses for this service,
and the Rule of St. Isidore runs : " In
the evening offices, first the lucer-
narium, then two psalms, one respon-
sory and lauds, a hymn and prayer are
to be said." St. Basil also writes : "It
seemed good to our fathers not to re-
ceive in silence the gift of the evening
light, but to give thanks as soon as
it appeared." It is probable, therefore,
that Prudentius intended the hymn for
daily use, and that after speaking of
God as the source of light, and His
manifestations in the form of fire to
Moses and the Israelites, his thoughts
pass naturally, though somewhat

i82 PRUDENTIUS

Line

abruptly, to the special festival —
Easter Eve — on which the sanctuaries
were most brilliantly illuminated.
The question is fully discussed by
Broclchaus {A. Prudentius Clemens in
seiner Bedeutung fur die Kirche seiner
Zeit), and Roesler [Der catholische
Dichter A. Prudentius). Part of this
hymn is used in the Mozarabic Brevi-
ary for the First Sunday after Epiphany,
at Vespers, being stanzas i, 7, 35, 38-

41-

7 The words incussu silicis are perhaps
reminiscent of the Spanish ceremonial
of Easter Eve, when the bishop struck
the flint, lighting from it first a
candle, then a lamp, from which the
deacons lighted their candles ; these
were blessed by the bishop, and the
procession frorh th^ processus into the
church followed.
21 Cf. Vaughan, The Lampe : —

" Then thou dost weepe
Still as thou burn'st, and the warm

droppings creepe
To measure out thy length."

119 The y^//M;n here is probably the ancient
malobathrum^ generally identified as the
Indian cinnamon. The Arab traders

NOTES 183

Line

who brought this valuable product
into the Western markets, surrounded
its origin with much mystery.
125 The following stanzas, in which Pru-
dentius elaborates the beautiful fancy
that the sufferings of lost spirits are
alleviated at Eastertide, have incurred
the severe censure of some of the
earlier editors. Fabricius calls it "a
Spanish fabrication," while others, as
Cardinal Bellarmine, declare that the
author is speaking *' poetically and
not dogmatically." That such a
belief, however, was actually held by
some section of the ancient Church
is evident from the words of St.
Augustine [Encheiridioriy c. 112) :
Paenas damnatorum certis temporum
interval/is existiment, si hoc eis placet^
aliquatenm mitigari^ dum?nodo intel-
ligatur in eis manere ira Dei^ hoc est
ipsa damnatio. " Let men believe, if
it so please them, that at certain
intervals the pains of the damned are
somewhat alleviated, provided that it
be understood that the wrath of God,
that is damnation itself, abides upon
them."
140 It is somewhat startling to find Pru-
dentiusspeakingof the Holy Eucharist
in terms which would recall to

i84 PRUDENTIUS

Link

his contemporary readers Virgilian
phraseology and the honeyed cake
(/iba) used in pagan sacrifice. It
must be remembered, however, that
in the early days of the Church
paganism and Christianity flourished
side by side for a considerable period ;
and we find various pagan practices
allowed to continue, where they were
innocent. Thus the bride-cake and
the bridal-veil are of heathen origin ;
the mirth of the Saturnalia survives,
in a modified form, in some of the
rejoicings of Christmas ; and the
flowers, which had filled the pagan
temples during the Floralia, were
employed to adorn God's House at
the Easter festival.
141 The brilliant illumination of churches
on Easter Eve is very ancient. Ac-
cording to Eusebius, Constantine
" turned the mystical vigil into the
light of day by means of lamps
suspended in every part, setting up
also great waxen tapers, as large as
columns, throughout the city."
Gregory of Nyssa also speaks of" the
cloud of fire mingling with the rays
of the rising sun, and making the eve
and the festival one continuous day
without interval of darkness."

NOTES 185

Line

153 Cf. Paradise Lost, iii. 51 : —

" So much the rather thou, Celestial
Light,
Shine inward, and the mind through

all her powers
Irradiate."

VI

The last seven stanzas of this hymn
are used in the Moz. Brev. at Com-
pline on Passion Sunday, and daily
until Maundy Thursday.

56 Cf. Job. vii. 14 : " Then Thou scarest me
with dreams, and terrifiest me through
visions."

95 In the translation of this stanza the ex-
planation of Nebrissensis is adopted,
an early editor of Prudentius (15 12)
and one of the leaders of the Renais-
sance in Spain. He considers that
" the few of the impious who are
condemned to eternal death " are
the incurable sinners, immedkabiles.
Others attempt to reconcile these
words with the general belief of the
early Church by maintaining that
non pit is not equivalent to impi'i, but
rather refers to the class that is

i86 PRUDENTIUS

Line

neither decidedly good nor definitely
bad, and that the mercy of God is
extended to the majority of these. A
third view is that the poet is speaking
relatively, and means that few are
condemned in proportion to the num-
ber that deserve condemnation. In
whatever way the words are explained,
it is interesting to find an advocate of
" the larger hope " in the fourth
century.

105 Cf. Rev. xvii. 8 : "The beast that thou
sawest was, and is not ; and is about
to come up out of the abyss, and to
go into perdition."

109 Cf. 2 Thess. ii. 4 : " The son of perdition,
who opposeth and exalteth himself
above all that is called God, or that is
worshipped ; so that he as God sitteth
in the temple of God, showing him-
self that he is God."

127 The phrase rorem subisse sacrum would

suggest baptism by sprinkling, except
that Prudentius uses the word loosely
elsewhere. Immersion was un-
doubtedly the general practice of the
early Church, " clinical " baptism
being allowed only in cases of neces-
sity.

128 The anointing with oil showed that the

catechumen was enrolled among the

NOTES 187

spiritual priesthood, and with the
unction was ioined the sign of the
Cross on the forehead.

VII

I This entire hymn is used in the Moz.
Brev., divided into fifteen portions for
use during Lent.

27 The word sacerdos here, as in ix. 4, is
used in the sense of " prophet" ; but
in both passages there is some idea of
the exercise of priestly functions.
Elijah mav be called "priest" from
his having offered sacrifice on Mount
Carmel, and David from his wearing
the priestly ephod as he danced be-
fore the Ark.

69 The old editors discuss these lines with
much gravity, and mostly come to
the conclusion that "locusts" were
"a kind of bird, of the length of a
finger, with quick, short flight " ;
while the " wild honev " was not
actual honey at all, but " the tender
leaves of certain trees, which, when
crushed by the fingers, had the
pleasant savour ot honey."

76 A gloss on one of the Vat. MSS. adds :
"This is not authorised; for John

i88 PRUDENTIUS

Line

merely baptized with water, and not
in the name of the Father, Son and
Holy Ghost ; therefore his baptism
was of no avail, save that it prepared
the way for Christ to baptize." Many
of the Fathers, however, while ex-
pressly affirming that John's baptism
differed from that of Christ, allowed
that the stains of sin were washed
away by the former. St. Chrysostom
draws this distinction : " There was
in John's baptism pardon, but not
without repentance ; remission of
sins, but only attained by grief."

lOO The story of Jonah, as a type of the
Resurrection, is one of the most fre-
quent subjects of the frescoes of the
Catacombs. In one very ancient
picture, a man in a small boat is
depicted in the act of placing the
prophet in the very jaws of the
whale.

115 Two stanzas are omitted in the text,
which depict the sufferings of Jonah
with a wealth of detail not in accord-
ance with modern taste. For the
sake of giving a complete text, we
append them here : —

" Transm'issa rapt'im praeda cassos dentium
eludit ictus incruentam transvolans

NOTES 189

Line

inpune /inguam, ne retentam mordicus

qffam molares d'tssecarent uvidi,

OS omne transit et palatum praeterit.

Terms dierum ac noctium processihus
mans'it ferino devoratus gutture,
errahat tllic per latebras viscerum,
ventris recessus c'lrcumibat tort'iles
anhelus extis intus aestuanttbus ."

194 Prudentius appears to have believed that
the mystery of the Incarnation was
concealed from Satan, and that the
Temptation w^as an endeavour to
ascertain whether Jesus was the Son
of God or no, Cf. Milton, Par.
Reg. i. : —

" Who this is we must learn, for Man he
seems
In all his lineaments, though in his face
The glimpses of his Father's glory
shine."

VIII

9 The day of twelve hours appears to have
been adopted by the Romans about
B.C. 291. Ambrose [de virg'inihus^
iii. 4), commenting on Ps. cxix. and
the words " Seven times a day do I

I90 PRUDENTIUS

Line

praise thee," declares that prayers are
to be oft'ered up with thanksgiving
when we rise from sleep, when we
go forth, when we prepare to take
food, when we have taken it, at the
hour of incense, and lastly, when we
retire to rest. He probably alludes
to private prayer. The stanza here
indicates that the second hour after
midday has arrived, when the fasting
ended and the midday meal was
taken.
14 The word festum^ as in vii. 4, indicates a
special fast day. Until the sixth
century, fasting was simply a peni-
tential discipline and was not used
as a particular mode of penance. In
the fourth century it was a fairly
common practice as a preparation for
Holy Communion. Fasting before
Baptism was a much earlier practice.
The stated fasts of the Western
Church were (i) annual^ that is,
ante-paschal or Lent; (2) monthly^
or the fasts of the four seasons in
the ist, 4th, 7th and loth months;
(3) weekly^ on Wednesday and Friday.
There was also the fast of the Roga-
tions and the Vigils or Eves of holy
days. It is doubtful whether all these
were in vogue as early as Prudentius.

\

NOTES 191

Line

33 This passage on the Shepherd reminds us
of one of the most common pictorial
representations of the Catacombs.
Christian art owed something to
paganism in this matter ; ancient
sculptures represent the god Pan with
a goat thrown across his shoulders
and a Pan's pipe in his hand ; while
the poets Calpurnius and Tibullus
both refer to the custom of carrying
a stray or neglected lamb on the
shoulders of the shepherd. Going
further back, the figure is common
in the O. T. to express God's care
over His people. Our Lord therefore
used for His own purpose and trans-
figured with new meaning a familiar
figure. The gradual transition from
paganism to Christianity is curiously
illustrated bv the fact that in several
of the Catacomb bas-reliefs and
paintings the Good Shepherd holds
in His outstretched hand a Pan's
pipe. See Maitland's Church in the
Catacombs, p. 315, for a woodcut of
the Good Shepherd with a lamb
over His shoulders, two sheep at
His feet, a palm tree (or poplar)
on either side, and a Pan's pipe
in His right hand ; and also the
frontispiece for a reproduction from

192 PRUDENTIUS

Line

the Cemetery of St. Peter and St.
Marcellinus.

IX

I This hymn, which first introduced into
sacred song the trochaic metre familiar
in Greek Tragedy and the Latin
adaptations of it, supplies the Moz.
Brev. with some stanzas for use during
Holy Week, The lines selected are
22-24, 1-21.

1 1 The use of the symbol n, (pronounced
here as a single syllable), appears to
indicate that the names Omeffa and
Omikron came into use at a later
date than Prudentius' time. In Rev.
i. 8, the best MSB. read lyu hai ri
aX(pa xui TO u.

33 The words vulnerum piamina are generally
supposed to refer to the *' gifts which
Moses commanded " to be offered by
those healed of leprosy (Lev. xiv. 2).
If so, Prudentius' language may imply
that the cure was not actually com-
plete until the offering of these gifts,
and is at variance with St. Matthew,
viii. 43, "and forthwith his leprosy
was cleansed." Probably, however,
his idea is rather that the gifts to the

I

I

NOTES 193

liINE

priest formally marked the leper as a
clean man.
71 Cf. note on iii. 199.

X

[ Parts of this hymn are used in the Moz.
Brev. in the Office of the Dead, being
11. 1-16, 45-48, 57-68, 157-168.

The burial rites of the primitive
Church were simple, and marked by
an absence of the ostentatious expres-
sion of grief which the pagan peoples
displayed. The general practice of
cremation was rejected, partly owing
to the new belief in the resurrection
of the body, and partly from a desire
to imitate the burial of the Lord. At
Rome, during the first three centuries,
the dead were laid in the Catacombs,
in which Prudentius took conspicuous
interest (see Translator's Note), but
after 338 a.d. this practice became less
frequent,andwascompletely abandoned
after 410 a.d. Elsewhere, from the
earliest times, the Christians purchr.sed
special enclosures {areae\ which were
often attacked and rifled by angry
mobs in the days of persecution. The
body was frequently embalmed {cf.
11. 51, 52), swathed in white linen
N

1

194 PRUDENTIUS

Line

(1. 49), and placed in a coffin ; vigils
and hymns continued for three or
four days, but hired mourners were
forbidden (1. 113), and instead of the
dirges of the heathens, chants ex-
pressive of triumphant faith were sung
as the body was carried to the grave,
where a simple service was held, and
evergreens and flowers were strewn
about the tomb (11. 169, 170). The
earliest inscriptions are often roughly
scratched on plaster, and consist
merely of a name and age, or simple
words like —

GEMELLA DORMIT IN PACE

but later (cf. 1. 171), they were en-
graved on small marble slabs.
25 In both thought and language this stanza,
as vii. 16 et seq.y'xs evidently reminis-
cent of Horace {Sat. 2, ii. 77) : ^/«
corpus onustum, etc,

" The Body, too, with Yesterday's excess
Burthened and tired, shall the pure Soul

depress,
Weigh down this Portion of celestial

Birth,
This Breath of God, and fix it to the

Earth." (Francis).

51 Boldetti, in his work on the Catacombs

NOTES 195

Line

(lib. i. cap. 59), says that on many
occasions, when he was present at the
opening of a grave, the assembled
company were conscious of a spicy
odour diffusina; itself from the tomb.
Cf. Tertullian(^/)5/. 42): " The Arabs
and Sabaeans knew well that we con-
sume more of their precious merchan-
dise for our dead than do the heathen
for their gods."
57 Prudentius' firm faith in the resurrection
of the body is also nobly expressed in
the Apotheosis (11. 1063 et seq.) : —

" Nosco meum in Christo corpus resurgere ;
quid me
Desperare iubes ? veniam, quibus ilk re-

venit
Calcata de morte viis : quod credimus
hoc est.

Pellite corde ?netum, mea membra^ et credite

vosmet
Cum Christo reditura Deo; nam vos

gerit ille
Et secutn revocat : morbos ridete minaces :
Inflictos casus conlemnite ; ietra sepulcra
Despuite ; exsurgens quo Christus pro-
vocate ite."

Translation.
" I know in Christ my body shall arise ;

196 PRUDENTIUS

Line

Why bid mc, then, despair ? for I shall

go
By that same path whereby my Lord

returned,
Death trodden 'neath His feet : this

is my creed.
Banish, my limbs, all terror ; and be-
lieve
That ye with Christ our God shall

yet return ;
He beareth you and with Himself

recalls.
Laugh at the threats of sickness ; scorn

the blows
Of fate ; despise the horrors of the

tomb ;
And fare ye where the risen Christ

doth call."

6 1 The poet expresses as a duty owed to
Christ Himself the heathen obligation
of casting three handfuls of earth upon
a body discovered dead.

69 For the incident referred to in these
lines, see the Apocryphal book of
Tobias, cc. ii. and xi. Tobir, a pious
Israelite captive in Nineveh, was
reduced to beggary as the result of
his zeal in burying those of his
countrymen who had been killed and
exposed bv royal command. He also
lost his sight, which was eventually

«

NOTES 197

restored by the application of the gall
of a fish which attacked his son
Tobias, and was killed by him. The
" fish " of the legend is probably the
crocodile, whose gall was credited
with medicinal properties by various
Greek and Latin writers. Cf. PHny,
N'. H. xxviii. 8 : " They say that
nothing avails more against cataract
than to anoint the eyes with its gall
mixed with honey."

Cf. Cyprian {De Mortal. 2o) : "We
must not lament our brethren whom
the Lord's summons has freed from
the world, for we know that they arc
not lost, but gone before. We mav
not wear the black robes of mourning
while they have put on the white
raiment of joy. Nor may we grieve
for those as lost whom we know to be
living with God."

Cf. Perist. vii. : —

" Nos piojletu, date, perluamus
Martnorum sulcosP

The early Christian epitaphs, of which
many thousands exist, are instinct
with a faith which is in striking con-
trast to the unrelieved gloom or sullen
resignation of paganism. Wc may
compare with the common

1

198 PRUDENTIUS

AVE ATfiVE VALE
« Hail and farewell "

or inscriptions like

INFANTI DVLCISSIMO QVEM DI IRATI
AETERNO SOMNO DEDERUNT

" To a very sweet babe, whom the angry gods
gave to unending sleep."

the Christian

DVLCIS ET INNOCENS HIC DORMIT
SEVERIANVS SOMNO PACIS CVIVS
SPIRITVS IN LUCE DOMINI SVSCEPTVS

EST (A.D. 393)

" Here slumbers in the sleep of peace the sweet and
innocent Severianus, whose spirit is received
in the light of the Lord "

or

NATVS EST LAVRENTIVS IN ETERNVM
ANN. XX. DORMIT IN PACE (A.D.

329)
" Laurentius was born into eternity in his twentieth
year. He sleeps in peace."

See also note on iii. 205.

XI

I Virgil's Fourth Eclogue known as the
"Pollio" has undoubtedly influenced
the thought and style of this poem :
the more noticeable parallels will be

NOTES 199

Line

pointed out as they occur. In
Milton's ode On the Morning of
Christ's Nativity there are several
passages which recall Prudentius'
treatment of the theme in this and
the succeeding hymn ; but curiously
enough, the Puritan poet in alluding
to the season of the Nativity takes
an opposite line of thought, and
regards the diminished sunshine of
winter as a veiling of an inferior
flame before the light of " a greater
Sun." Prudentius proclaims the in-
crease of the sun's light, which
begins after the winter solstice, as
symbolic of the ever - widening in-
fluence of the True Light. The idea
is given in a terse form by St. Peter
Chrvsologus, Serm. 159 : Crescere
dies coepit^ quia verus dies illuxit. " The
day begins to lengthen out, inasmuch
as the true Day hath shone forth."

18 For the somewhat obscure phrase verba
editus^ see note on iii. 2.

20 For "Sophia" or the Divine Creative
Wisdom, see Prov. iii. 19, 20, and
especially viii. 27-31, where the
language " has been of signal im-
portance in the history of thought,
helping, as it does, to make a bridge
between Eastern and Greek ideas, and

200 PRUDENTIUS

Line

to prepare the way for the Incarna-
tion " (Davison, Wisdom-Literature
of the O. T.^ pp. 5, 6). In Alex-
andrian theology the conception of
God's transcendence gave rise to the
doctrine of an intermediate power or
logos y by which creation was effected.
In the Prologue of the fourth Gospel
the idea was set forth in its purely
Christian form. See i, 3, where the
Logos or the pre-incarnate Christ is
described as the maker of all things —
an idea which is also illustrated by the
language of St. Paul in such passages
as Col. i. 6.

59 Cf. for the conception of a golden age,
Virg., Ecl.y iv. 5 et seq. : Magnus ab
Integra saeclorum nascitur ordoy etc.

65 Reminiscences of ancient prophecy appear
to be embodied in this and following
lines. Cf. Joel iii. 18 : " And it shall
come to pass in that day that the
mountains shall drop down sweet wine
and the hills shall flow with milk."
Amos ix. 13 : "The mountains shall
drop sweet wine and all the hills shall
melt." But cf. especiallv Virg., Ecl.^
iv, 18-30 : At tibi prima, puer, nulla
munuscula cultu^ etc.

" Unbidden earth shall wreathing ivy
bring,

NOTES 201

-INE

And fragrant herbs (the promises of

spring)
As her first olF'rings to her infant king.

■ ••••••

Unlaboured harvest shall the fields

adorn,
And clustered grapes shall blush on

every thorn ;
The knotted oaks shall showers of

honey weep,
And through the matted grass the liquid

gold shall creep."

(Dryden's Trans.)

8 1 The legend of the ox and ass adoring

our Lord arose from an allegorical

interpretation of Isa. i. 3 : " The ox

icnoweth his owner, the ass his master's

crib." Origen {Homilies on St. Luke

xiii.) is the first to allegorise on the

passage in Isaiah, where the word for

" crib" in the Greek translation of the

O.T. is identical with St. Luke's word

for " manger " {(parvn). After referring

to the circumstances of the Nativity,

Origen proceeds to say : '* That was

what the prophet foretold, saying, 'The

ox knoweth,' etc. The Ox is a clean

animal : the Ass an unclean one.

The Ass knew his master's crib

[praesepc domini sui) : not the people

of Israel, but the unclean animal out

202 PRUDENTIUS

of pagan nations knew its master's
crib. ' But Israel hath not known
me : and my people hath not under-
stood.' Let us understand this and
press forward to the crib, recognise
the Master and be made worthy
of his knowledge." The thought
that the Ox = the Jews and the Ass
= Pagans, reappears in Gregory
Nazianzen, Ambrose and Jerome.
See an interesting article by Mr.
Austin West [Ox and Ass Legend of the
Nativity. Cont. Review, Dec. 1903),
who notes the further impetus given
to the legend by the Latin rendering
of Habb. iii. 2 (LXX.) which in the
Fetus Itala version appears as " in
medio duorumanimaliuminnotesceris,"
" in the midst of two animals shalt
thou be known " (R.V., in the midst
of the years make it known). The
legend does not appear in apocryphal
Christian literature earlier than in the
Pseudo- Matthew Gospel, which belongs
to the later fifth century. It is
interesting to note that with St.
Francis and the Franciscans the ox
and the ass are merely animals : the
allegorical interpretation of Origen
had vanished from Christendom : and
in its place we find St. Francis (see

NOTES 203

Life of St. Francis by St. Bona-
ventura, "Temple Classics" edition,
p. Ill) making a presepio at Greccio,
to which a living ox and ass are
brought, in order that a visible
representation of the manger-scene
might kindle the devotion of the
Brethren and the assembled townsfolk.
This act of St. Francis inaugurated
the custom, still observed in the
Roman Church, of representing by
means of waxen images the whole of
the Nativity manger-scene, Mother
and Child together with the adoring
animals.

97 For the obstetrix, cf. Proto-Evangelium of
the Pseudo-James (a Greek romance of
the fourth century), ^ 1% et seq.^
where Joseph is represented as seek-
ing and finding a Hebrew midwife.

100 Cf. Milton's Ode on the Nativity, 11.
157-164 :—

" With such a horrid clang
As on Mount Sinai rang

While the red fire and smould'ring
clouds outbrake :
The aged earth aghast
With terror of that blast,

Shall from the surface to the centre
shake ;

204 PRUDENTIUS

Line

When at the world's last session
The dreadful Judge in middle air shall
spread his throne."

XII

I This poem has given four hymns to the
Roman Breviary : —

(1) For the Feast of the Trans-
figuration, Vespers and Matins, con-
sisting of 11. 1-4, 37-40, 41-44, 85-88.

(2) For the Epiphany at Lauds,
beginning O sola magnarum urbium,
11. 77-80, 5-8, 61-72.

(3) For the Feast of Holy Innocents
at Matins, beginning Audit tyrannus
anxiusy 11. 93- 1 00, 133-136.

(4) Also the Feast of Holy Inno-
cents at Lauds, beginning Salvete
Jlores martyrum^W. 125-132.

5 For a curious parallel to these opening
lines see Henry Vaughan's Pious
Thoughts and Ejaculations (the Nati-
vitv) : —

" But stay ! what light is that doth stream
And drop here in a gilded beam ?
It is Thy star runs Page and brings
Thy tributary Eastern kings.
Lord ! grant some light to us that we
May find with them the way to Thee!"

NOTES 205

i2^Cf. Ignatius, Ep. ad Ephes. xix. : " AH the
other stars, together with the Sun and
Moon, became a chorus to the Star,
which in its light excelled them all."

15 Prudentius mentions the constellations of
Ursa Major and Ursa Minor (to
which latter the Pole Star belongs) as
examples of stars in constant appari-
tion. All the Little Bear stars are
within about 24° from the Pole ;
hence, if viewed from Saragossa, the
birthplace of Prudentius, the lowest
altitude of any of them would be 18°
above the north horizon. The same
applies to the majority of the stars in
the Great Bear. Some few would
sink below the horizon for a brief
time in each twenty-four hours ; but
the greater number, especially the
seven principal stars known as the
" Plough," would be sufficiently high
up at their lowest northern altitudes
to be in perpetual apparition. [My
friend. Rev. R. Killip, F.R.A.S., has
kindly furnished me with these par-
ticulars.] Allusions to the Bears are
constantly recurring in the classical
poets {c(, e.g. Ovid., Met. xiii.^293,
immunemque aequoris Arcton^ " the
Bear that never touches the sea").
The idea that these stars are mostly

2o6 PRUDENTIUS

Line

hidden by clouds, though perpetually
in view, is a poetic hyperbole in-
tended to enhance the uniqueness of
the Star of Bethlehem.

49 Jerome [ad Eustoch. Ep. 22) commenting
on the passage in Isa. xi. I, "And
there shall come forth a rod out of
the root of Jesse, and a flower shall
rise up out of his root " (Vulg.), re-
marks : " The rod (virga) is the mother
of the Lord, simple, pure, sincere . . .
the flower of the rod is Christ, who
saith, ' I am the flower of the field and
the lily of the valleys.' "

69 This symbolism of the gifts of the Magi
is also found in Juvencus (I. 250) :
"Frankincense, gold and myrrh they
bring as gifts to a King, a Man and a
God," and is again alluded to by
Prudentius in Apoth. 631 et seq. The
idea is expressed in the hymn of
Jacopone da Todi, beginning Verbum
caro factum est (Mone, Hymni Latini^
Vol. 2) :

" Gold to the kingly.
Incense to the priestly,
Myrrh to the mortal : "

and it has passed into the Office for
Epiphany in the Roman Breviary :

NOTES 207

Line .^ l- 1.

" There are three precious girts which
the Magi offered to their Lord that
day, and they contain in themselves
sacred mysteries : in the gold, that
the power of a king may be displayed:
in the frankincense, consider the
great high priest : in the myrrh, the
burial of the Lord " et passim.

172 The idea that Moses defeated the
Amalekites because his arms were
outstretched in the form of a cross is
found also in one of the hymns (Ixi.)
of Gregory Nazianzen. The symbol
of the Christian religion, the cross,
" was fancifully traced by the Fathers
throughout the universe : the four
points of the compass, the 'height,
breadth, length and depth ' of the
Apostle expressed, or were expressed
by, the cross. . . . The cross ex-
plained everything"(Maitland, Church
in the Catacombs^ p. 202).

193 The discomfiture of the heathen gods
wrought by the Incarnation is
elaborated by Milton, whose lines
recall this and similar passages in
Prudentius : —

" Pcor, and Baalim
Forsake their temples dim

9Q| PRUDENTIUS

And sullen Moloch fled,
Hath left in shadows dread,

His burning idol all of blackest
hue.

• ••••••

Our Babe, to show his Godhead true,
Can in his swaddling bands control the
damned crew."

i

FINIS

Coiston &' Coy. Limited^ Printers, Edhibiirfh

University of California

SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY

405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388

Return this material to the library

from which it was borrowed.

1^

flt JAN2 5 l«l

UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY

I!

AA 000 421 185 0